-/* ^ « 1 A 



V- .V 


V "? 




A- .r> 




% \*^'. 




-^ 


C^^*^^^- 

* ^ s ^ 




'^r' ^^ 


: ' ^'^ "^' \\^^ 







^-^ .# 



,v 









V -,\- 



^, v^' 



^c. 



v->- 



■rf-, ' 



^^ 






S"^"^. 



-V' 



■i*^ 









'.■ .^^' 






A 



\ 



\' 



A^' 



X^' '^-^ 






^. 









/^^ 



■^A 



,-N -r , 




0\- ^^v 



MEMORIAL 



OF L 



CHRISTIAN LIEE, 



CONTAINING 



ALL THAT A SOUL NEWLY CONVERTED TO GOD OUGftT 

TO DO, THAT IT MAY ATTAIN THE PERFECTION 

TO WHICH IT OUGHT TO ASPIRE 



, BY THE 

REV. F.'llEWISjDE GKANADA 



EEVISBD BY THB 

RET. F, J. L'ESTRANGE, I D 



NEW-YORK: 
THE CATHOLIC PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 



^\%^ 



•> 






o=y 



«B » 1>>» 






PRKFACE. 



— ^•••- 



As the inclinations and judgments of writeis have beea^ 
iiflferent, so have they disposed themselves to treat of differ- 
ent matters. Some, charmed with the beauty of eloquence, 
have labored to frame an excellent oratot : they have taken 
him from the cradle, and conducted him through all the 
steps and degrees of this art, till they have brought him to 
the highest point to which he could be raised. Others have 
attempted to represent a perfect prince; others, a great cap* 
tain; others, a wise courtier; and in these different designs 
every one of them has proposed to himself the advancing 
of that which he most esteemed. But, of all human thingd, 
there is none so noble as a perfect Christian. The holy 
authors name him a heavenly man, or an earthly angel ; and 
it is with reason they give him this quality, since, being _^^.^-:-^> 
destined to a supernatural end, he leads a divine life. Thus*, '■ ' ' 
since all other conditions, which are as much below this as 
their end is inferior, have had masters who have taught 
tirith so much care, from their first elements even to their 
last period, what was necessary to render one accomplished 
in them, how much more just is it to prescribe rules for this 
heavenly profession, which so much the more stands in need 
of being faithftiUy taught, as the perfection of it is mor« 
clifficult to be attained. 

This has made me a long time desirous to see in some one 
book the manner of forming a perfect Christian, in order 
that such a book might be, as it were, an abridgment of 



ft PREFACE. 

whatever belongs to the conduct of a Christian in this life. 
For, as good workmen take care to furnish themselves with 
all instruments necessary for their trade, and as those who 
applj themselves to any art or science do all they can to 
have some book in which they may find whatever concerns 
the knowledge they would acquire, that they may ease their 
memory by enclosing it, as it were, in one only place, so it 
seems to me very expedient to do the same in the science of 
Christianity, which is the art of arts and science of sciences ; 
to the end, that such as desire to serve God sincerely, having 
this little treatise, may find in it light enough for the direc- 
tion of their lives, and that the preachers and confessors 
who are zealous for the public, may without much pains, 
draw from it whatever is necessary for the infusing of true 
piety into the souls of their hearers. 

I know that we do not want, at this day, books which 
treat of this matter; but each of them have in a manner 
some particular end to which they are directed. As for 
catechisms, though they contain a summary of Christianity, 
and all that pertains to it, yet, since their principal aim 
tends only to explain the substance of things, and cause 
them to be comprehended, their doctrine is more speculative, 
and fitter to enlighten the understanding, than to affect the 
will. 

Wherefore I am resolved, by the grace of God, and witk 
the assistance I hope to receive from the writings of the 
holy fathers, who have spoken of these matters in divers 
places, to compose this book, which I assume to draw from 
their sentiments and sentences, for the framing a perfect 
Christian, and conducting him through all the states and 
exercises of this life, from the beginning of his conversion 
to the utmost perfection he can acquire. I propose to my- 
self for this purpose, to take him quite rough and an- 
wrought, like the trunk of a tree cut down upon a barren 
mountain, with ita branches and bark, and to polish him 
little by little, till I have brought him to the perfect state to 



PKKFACE.: 6i 

»'hich he ought to aspire. To this end, I will set before hia 
eyes, iu my first book, heaven and hell, with the advantages- 
that accompany virtue, and the obligations we have to fol- 
low it, and will endeavor to persuade him, by these consid- 
erations, to take a strong resolution of leaving vice, andl 
firmly applying himself to God's service. 

This resolution being formed, I teach him, in the second' 
book, how he must do penance; because this is the first step^' 
he has to take, that he may enter into this way. I propose 
to him several considerations, and divers prayers, which* 
may serve to make him conceive all possible regret andi^ 
horror for the sins of his past life; and I afterwards instruct^ 
him how he must confess himself, and make a satisfaction- 
proportionate to his offences. After confession follows com- 
munion, and therefore, in my third book, I give himcoun*- 
sels and precepts for communicating worthily, with prayers,, 
which he may use befof e and after communion. 

Amendment of life ought to be the fruit of these two sa- 
craments: on which I enlarge myself in my fourth book.. 
But because in the Christian life some content themselves 
with doing only what is necessary for their salvation, and 
others, willing to go farther, and tend to pei^fection, are not 
satisfied with a simple observation of the commandinents, 
but oblige themselves also to follow the counsels, I prescribe; 
two rules of living well; one more common j for the first;, 
and another more strict and spiritual, for the others. 

A book, in which every private person succinctly set»* 
down his private affairs, is ordinarily termed a Mbmotoal:: 
I have given the same name to this, because I have compen- 
diously treated all I have comprised in it; though I have^ 
not so much studied brevity, but that I have also endeavor- 
ed to set down all that was necessary for my subject. It is^ 
true, the theme is copious and plentiful, and there are man j^ 
things to be said which cannot be sufiiciently expressed, but 
I leave this to other writers. Yet, if it shall please God to 
prolong the course of this my life, whicb passes away with' • 



<J PREPACE 

*o much speed, T may treat more at large 8(ftoe parts of this 
doctrine, and, in particular, give the public an Exhortation, 
with rules for leading a good life, a Treatise on the Love of 
(iod, and on the Life of Jesus Christ. 

It is true, that what I assume is properly a work of tho 
Holy Ghost, and that to him alone belongs the forming a 
perfect Christian. But, as grace excludes not labor, which, 
on the contrary, ought to concur with it, so God's interior 
instruction excludes not the exterior instruction which comes 
from men; but, on the contrary, necessarily requires it. 
This office particularly pertains to the priests and ministers 
of the church ; it is to them that God sends us to be inform- 
ed of his law. Wherefore, amongst the ornaments with 
which the high-priest, in the old law was clothed, there was 
one named the Rational, which he wore on his breast, having 
engraven on it these words, ^^ Doctrine and Truth^^ [Exod, 
xxi.) to show that these two things otghi to be in Aaron's 
heart, that from thence, as from a plentiful spring, they 
might run down upon all the rest. This function is so im- 
portant and so considerable, that Moses, by the counsel of 
his father-in-law Jethro, reserved it to himself alone. Exod, 
xviii. This prudent old man advised him to commit to 
other judges the lighter affairs, and the judgments that con- 
cerned temporal matters; but that he should reserve to him- 
self religion and God's worship, and should take for his own 
province the care of teaching the people the ceremonies of 
the law, and in what manner they ought to serve God. 
Tliis is what God requires of his priests; and some of them 
whom be had called to this dignity having been so unhappy 
as to neglect the duty of their charge, he addressed to them 
ihese amazing words by the mouth of the prophet: "Because 
thou hast rejected knowledge, I will reject thee, that thou 
ghalt not do the office of priesthood to me." Osee iv. 6. And 
in another place he again threatens them with this punish- 
ment, by the prophet Tsaias, as with the most dreadful ca- 
lamity that could befall them, saying: that 1 ecau^^e of their 



PREFACE. i 

great siiis he would punish them with a terrible punishment, 
which should be, that " wisdom" should "perish from their 
wise men, and the understanding of their prudeat men" 
should be ^'hid." Isaias xxix. 14. 

A.fter this, none can doubt but that as the want of this 
wisdom is one of the greatest chastisements which can be 
inflicted on such as have the conduct of souls, so it is no 
less terrible to those who are to receive their instructions. 
For the light of the understanding being taken away, which 
is, as it were, the author of every change that is made in the 
soul, and like the principal wheel of a clock, that governs 
and moves the Christian life, what can afterwards be expect- 
ed but blindness, extravagance, and other disorders of that 
nature? 

This sentiment is none of mine, the whole Scripture show- 
ing us, that all these evils have no other source. See here 
what the Almighty^ God says of them by the mouth of 
Isaias: " For it is not a wise people ; therefore he that made 
it, shall not have mercy on it ; and he that formed it, shall 
not spare it" Isaias xxvii. 11. And in another place he 
says: "Therefore is my people led away captive, because 
they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished 
with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst" 
Chap. v. 13. The prophet Baruch confirms the same thing, 
when he says, that the true cause of the children of Israel's 
captivity, and of their miseries in strange lands, was, that 
they had "forsaken the Fountain of Wisdom." Bar. iii. 12. 
He gives also this only reason for the destruction of the 
giants — that is, the great men of the world: "Because," 
says he, " they had not wisdom, they perished through their 
folly." Ih. V. 28. And it is to remedy this evil that St. Paul, 
writing to the Colossians, expressly charges them to take 
care that the word and doctrine of Jesus Christ be mces- 
aantly preached amongst them, and that they mutually 
teach, and charitably advise one another what they ara 
obli£:ed to do. 



O PREFACS. 

There is no trade, how mean soever, but has its rules for 
the well performing it : how much more necessary, then, is 
it to have them in the highest of all exercises, which is to 
please God, to serve him, to gain the kingdom of heaven, 
and to surmount the strength and stratagems of our enomy ? 
How can an ignorant man know a thing which so much 
imports him, if there are not set before his eyes the promises 
and threatenings of Almighty God, and the obligations he 
has to serve him ? How can he conceive a sorrow for his 
sins, if he is not made to understand the reasons he has to 
be afflicted for them ? How can he communicate worthily, 
if he is not taught what is necessary for the making a good 
communion ? How can he regulate his life, seek virtue, and 
shun vice, if he know not the means to obtain the one, and 
resist the other, nor understand the temptations and artifices 
of the enemy ? How shall he make a good prayer, and how 
can he accompany it with the conditions it requires if ke 
has not been instructed in them? How shall he atta-in tc 
the love of God, if he is ignorant of the way that leads to 
it, of the things that hinder it, and of the exercises he must 
do to merit it? We have need of all this light for all these 
different things : we bring it not with us at our birth ; on 
the contrary, we may say, with truth, there is nothing that 
better represents our condition than the man in the gospel, 
who was blind from his mother's womb. 

It is indeed the office of preachers to cure this blindness 
by the light of God's word : but these are not every where 
to be found ; nor do they all treat of these matters which 
are so necessary; nor yet, speaking as they ordinarily do in 
general, can they easily descend to such particularities as 
this moral doctrine demands, which, respecting particular 
exercises, requires also particular precepts, which are not 
usually given in pulpits. Wherefore there is nothing more 
profitable than the reading of good books. They are, as it 
were, constant preachers, which teach at all times: bow 
long soever they may be, they are never tiresome, because 



PBEFAOB. 9 

one may leave them when one will ; and if they are short, 
one always gets some benefit by frequent reading them over. 
Ho^v great are the fruits of God's word ; and who shall ex- 
plain the doctrine of his Church ? It is as a light which 
enlightens our minds, as a fire which heats our wills, as a 
hammer which softens the hardness of our hearts, as a knife 
which pares away the superfluities of our passions, as a 
torch which lights us in all the passages of this life, as a 
seed which brings forth the fruits of eternal life ; and, in 
fine, as a wholesome food and nourishment, which sustains 
OS, refreshes us, and gives strength and vigor to our souls, 
to bring them to God. 

Experience renders us knowing in this truth: the light 
and fruit which come from reading are so great, that we 
ordinarily see most people change their lives only by this 
way: and if many sinners should be asked, what was the 
occasion and beginning of their conversion, they would 
almost continually answer, that it must be attributed to the 
reading of some book of devotion, which moved them to 
take that resolution. Do we not • know, how that officer of 
the queen of Ethiopia, was reading in his chariot the prophet 
Isaias, when God converted him by the means of St. Philip, 
who took occasion from that reading to instruct him in the 
feith ? Acts viii. And whence proceeded so many heroical 
actions, as king Josias did during the whole course of his 
reign, but from his having read a holy book, which was 
sent him by the priest Helchias, as we learn out of the book 
of Kings ? 4 Kings xxii. 

And to furnish us with a memorable example, does not 
St. Augustin acknowledge, that he owes his conversion to a 
book on which he fortunately cast his eyes : he himself gives 
us an account of it in the eighth book of his Confessions ; 
and because it is a thing which deserves for ever to be im- 
printed in your minds, I will repeat to you his words at 
length. 

He 8a3'S then, that "a certain African gentleman, named 



10 PREFACE. 

Potitianus, being come to visit him, told him wonderftil 
things which the world published of the great St. Anthony ; 
and he added, that the emperor being one afternoon busied 
in beholding certain public spectacles in the town of Triers, 
this gentleman, with three of his friends, who attended the 
court, agreed to go walk abroad into the fields ; that two 
of them came by chance to a monk's cell, where finding a 
book which contained the life of St. Anthony, one of them 
began to read it; and that feeling his heart on a sudden 
inflamed with holy love, touched with a religious shame, 
and animated with a just anger against himself, he said 
these words to his friend : ' What do we pretend to obtain 
by all our care and toil ? What do we seek ? Why have 
we so many years engaged ourselves in war and battles ? 
If we should attain to the height of our desires, can we hope 
for any better fortune than to be esteemed by the emperor ? 
And in that very state, what is there that is not frail and 
exposed to dangers ? And through how many perils must 
we run to arrive at this extreme peril ? In the meantime, 
if I desire to be loved by my God, I may immediately be 
so.' He spoke these words, being troubled and agitated 
with the labor which the bringing forth of the new life 
gave him; he cast his eyes again on the book — he read; 
he was inwardly changed, and entirely freed from all world- 
ly affections, as appeared soon after; for having finished 
his reading, and allayed the storm which the waves of his 
thoughts had stirred up in his heart, with a great sigh, he 
said to his friends: 'I am now in peace and repose; I 
heartily renounce all our hopes; I am absolutely resolved 
to serve God, and from this very momen set up my rest 
here without going any farther. If you wiU not imitate me 
in my resolution, at least endeavor not to withdraw me 
from it' The other answered, that he would not leave him, 
and that he should not find any difficulty in keeping him 
company, since so great a recompense was proposed to him; 
thus both of them began without sparing any thing, to raise 



PREFACE. 11 

that spiritual building of which the gospel speaks. And 
what is no less worthy of admiration is, that they were both 
promised, and that those to whom they were betrothed 
understanding this change, consecrated their virginity to 
God." 

This is what St. Augustin relates, ( Conf, 6. viii. c. 6,) apd 
this example wrought so pc^werfuUy on his soul, that turn- 
ing instantly to one of his fiends, he said to him with a 
loud voice : " What is it we suffer ? What have we so latPly 
heard? The unlearned come and cairy heaven by force, 
and we with all our learning, remain buried in flesh and 
blood." The saint adds, that sensibly touched with this 
thought, he went into a garden, where he lay down on tho 
ground under a fig-tree, and that giving liberty to his tears, 
in the trouble and agitation to which his heart was reduced, 
he uttered these words: "How long, Lord, how long wilt 
thou be angry? Shall thy just indignation never cease? 
Forget, I beseech thee, my past iniquities." {B. viii. c. 12.) 
And immediately he began anew this discourse: "How 
long, how long ? To-morrow, and to-morrow ? And why 
shall not this very moment an end be put to my crimes ?^* 
Whilst in the bitterness of his heart he breathed forth these 
sorrowful words, he heard a voice which said to him : — 
" Take and read !" He immediately rose up, and took into 
his hand a book of the Holy Scriptures that lay near him : 
calling to mind what he had heard spoken of St. Anthony 
how that hearing by chance in the gospel these words of Je- 
sus Christ, " Go, sell the things that thou hast, and give to 
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come 
and follow me," i^Matt. xix. 21.) he took them as if they had 
been particularly addressed to himself, and thereupon re- 
Bolved to leave all, and follow Jesus Christ. Animated by 
this example, and yet more by the voice he heard, he began 
to read the book, and immediately Almighty God infused so 
great a light into his heart, that joyfully renouncing all pre- 
sent things, he gave himself up wholly to God's service 



12 PREFACE. 

We learn by these examples, how many signal conver s'loni 
have had their beginning from the reading of good books ; as 
that of Potitianus's friends, of St. Augustin, and also that 
of St. Anthony^ and we might add many others, as well of 
past ages, as of this in which we live, that began after the 
same manner. But this perhaps would be superfluous ; for 
the mysteries which the christian religion reveals to men, 
have so much beauty to touch their hearts, that I wonder 
not at their producing such marvellous changes in the souls 
of those who consider them. The reading of pious books 
not only serves to awaken those whom this world holds as 
it were enchanted and lulled asleep, but also to preserve those 
whom grace has already roused, and who begin to watch 
over themselves. Wherefore Grod's word is, in the Scripture, 
termed bread, or food; because it nourishes and sustains souls 
in the spiritual life, as material bread does bodies in the 
corporal. 

And although this sort of food has in all times been as ne- 
cessary as bread for the preservation of life, yet it is much 
more so in this. Heretofore the pastors and priests were so 
oareful and zealous in preaching God's word, that there was 
no need of any thing more for believers, who might without 
reading preserve themselves, and go forward in virtue; but 
we see at this day, that many of those to whom the cure of 
souls is entrusted, content themselves with administering the 
sacraments, and say a mass at the usual hour; and that in 
the greatest part of the boroughs and villages, and even in 
some good towns, having performed these functions, they 
think they have fulfilled their duty. Thus are the people de- 
prived of an assistance which is so necessary to them ; and 
in this necessity it is fit to supply with good books the want 
of knowing and zealous pastors. 

Receive then this present that I make you, which in an in- 
different size, and at a small charge, may supply the instruc- 
tions you would otherwise want. It will serve for a sermon, 
{o exhort you to live well; for a christian instruction, to 



PREFACE. 13 

teach you true piety; for an examination to make a good 
confession ; for a preparation to communicate worthily ; for 
a book of devotion to pray by ; and will, in fine, furnish you 
with several subjects to meditate on, which are, in a manner, 
all the duties that the christian philosophy comprehends : for 
if this work of mine is worthy of any consideration, it is 
because it contains many things, and treats of whatsoever 
concerns the obligations of christians, as well of those that 
are but beginners, as of those that are more advanced in 
virtue, I have done what I could to collect these matters 
together, and express them in a plain and easy style, to the 
end I might please even the palate of the weak, to whom I 
often direct my discourse. Now if the benefit that may be 
reaped by it, be as great as the diligence I have bestowed on 
it has been earnest, I shall think myself happily employed ; 
since there is no bodily labor, how great soever it may be. 
which ought to enter into comparison with the spiritual 
good that may contribute to the salvation of sooU. 
t 



% Jtemorkl of a ft^ristian f ift 



BOOK I 



CONTAINING 

A SERIOUS EXHORTATION TO DO PENANCE. 



CHAPTER I. 



With what punishment God threatens those who live 

in Sin, 

Of the means Grod has often used to subdue the 
hearts of men, and render them obedient to his com- 
mands, one of the most prevalent has ever been, to 
set before their eyes the greatness of the pains pre- 
pared for those who obstinately disobey and break 
his laws. For though the hopes of the happiness 
promised the good, may sometimes produce the same 
effect, yet we are usually more sensibly touched with 
what afflicts than with what delights us. We are 
more discontented with an affront, than elated with 
honor ; and the inconveniences of sickness are more 
painful to us, than the sweetness of health is pleas- 
ant; so that the esteem we have for the latter arises 
from the former, the evil which accompanies it 
making a deeper impression on our senses. 

15 



16 THE MEMORIAL OP 

Wherefore we see, that in former ages God oft^D 
applied this remedy, as we are taught by the proph- 
ets, whose writings arc filled with nothing but terrors 
and threats. God's design, we are assured, by this 
way, to strike a dread into men's minds, to keep 
their restless spirits within the bounds of their du- 
ties, and, by this fear, to bring them under and sub- 
ject them to the yoke of his law. God commands 
the prophet Jeremias to take a white book, and to 
write in ifc all the threats and calamities he had re- 
vealed from the time he first began to speak to him, 
and to read them to the people, to see whether the 
representation of these miseries would oblige then; 
to change their lives, to the end God might change 
the resolution he had taken, to make them feel the 
effects of his wrath. The prophet did as he was 
commanded ; and the Scripture observes, that at the 
same time this people were seized with such terror, 
that having lost the use of their senses, there was 
left them only the motion of their eyes, which they 
sorrowfully cast on one another ; so great a change 
did these divine words cause in them. 

It is manifest, then, that in the time of the 
Mosaical law, this was one of the principal means 
which God used with men, nor is it abolished in the 
law of grace. Does not St. Paul, the greatest of 
preachers, say, (Ecmi. i.) that as God makes known 
his justice in those he renders just, he in like manner 
?^auses his indignation to appear in the punishment 
of the wicked? When the forerunner of Jesua 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 17 

Christ was sent, we know in what manner he first 
preached; he declared aloud, {Luke iii. 9, 10, 16, 
17,) that " the axe is laid to the root of the ived ;'' 
that "every tree therefore that bringeth not forth 
good fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire ;'' 
that a mightier than he was abeady come into the 
world, " whose fan is in his hand ; and he will purge 
his floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn, but 
the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire." The 
dread which the thunder of these words caused in 
their hearts was such, that all sorts of people of all 
descriptions ran to him. Even the publicans and 
soldiers, who ordinarily take little care of their sal- 
vation, had recourse to this holy man, asking him 
what they should do to be saved, and to avoid these 
nenaces ? We now declare to you the same thing on 
God's behalf: it is not, I confess, with the same 
spirit and the same holiness, with which St. John 
Baptist accompanied his words ; but you are assured, 
that we speak to you the sanie truth, since St. John 
preached not any other faith, or any other gospel, 
but what we declare to you. 

SECTION I. 

You will perhaps ask me, what the pains are, with 
which Grod threatens the wicked in the Scripture. 
My answer is, in a few words, that what may be said, 
without making any long discourse, is this : that as 
the reward of the good is a universal good, in which 

!S to be found whatever is good ; so the punishment 

2 



18 THB MEMORIAL OF 

of the wicked is a universal evil, containing in itself 
all other evils. 

To understand this, you must know, that all the 
evils of this present life are particular evils, and conse 
quently afflict not all our senses together. Amongst 
diseases, some attack the eyes, others the ears, others 
the heart, the stomach, the head, or some other part. 
Not any one of these evils extends itself generally 
over all our members; they have their seat only in 
some one of them; and yet we see what torment 
any one of these infirmities, though but the aching 
of a tooth, gives a sick man. 

This is the effect ordinarily produced by sickness, 
which, how troublesome soever, is nevertheless sup- 
portable ; l3ut if a man should fall into so universal 
a distemper, that it should not leave any one of his 
senses, or any one of his members without its par- 
ticular pain ; that at the same time he should feel 
sharp pains in his head, in his eyes, in his stomach, 
in his heart, and in all the parts and joints of his 
body ; that in this condition he should lie stretched 
on a bed, wasting away by little and little in his 
sufferings, every member having, as it were, its par 
ticular pain, what would you say of the torment he 
should endure? Could you imagine any thing more 
miserable, or more worthy of compassion? Would 
you not pity any creature you should see f educed tc 
«uch a 3tate ? IBehold here (if this matter will admit 
of any comparison) what, not for one night alone, 
but for all eternity, is suffered in hell! As the 



1 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 19 

wicked hav3 employed all their members and all their 
<ienses to offend Grod, and as there is nothing in them 
which they have not made instrumental to sin, so it 
is very just that every one of these parts should re- 
ceive its proper punishment. In this place the un- 
chaste eyes shall be tormented with the horrible sight 
of devils; the ears, with the confusion of the cries 
and groans they shall there hear ; the smell, with the 
insupportable stench of that infernal abode ; the taste, 
with an insatiable hunger and thirst; the touch, all 
the members capable of that sentiment, with inex- 
pressible fire and cold, bpth together; the imagina- 
tion shall be tormented by the rigor of present evils ; 
the memory, by the remembrance of past pleasures; 
ike understanding, by the consideration of lost bene- 
fits and future miseries. 

The Scripture admirably well sets forth the diver- 
sity and great number of these pains, when it says, 
(^Matt. viii. Luke vi., Ecd. vii., Isa. Ixvi., Apoc. xviii.) 
that in hell they shall suffer hunger and thirst ; that 
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, two- 
edged swords, and spirit created for revenge ; that 
there shall be serpents, worms, scorpions, hammers^ 
wormwood, water mingled with gall, winds and hor- 
rible tempests, and other things of that sort; all 
which signify the infinity and dreadful severity of 
the punishments inflicted in that place. In that place 
shall be found, also, interior and exterior darkness, 
environing both the body and soul, much more ob- 
scure than that of Egypt, which might be even felt 



20 THE MEMORIAL OF 

with the hand. (Exod, x.) In fine, there shall be a 
fire, not of the same natnre with that in this world,, 
which ofiends bnt slightly, and in a short time ceases ; 
but a fire, fit for that place, which shall cause incredi- 
ble torments, and neve haver an end. Now if this be 
true, can there be any thing imagined more strange, 
than to see those who believe and confess these 
things, to live in so wilful a negligence ? To what 
labors would not a rational man expose himself, that 
he might but one only day, nay but one only houi-, 
be exempted from so many evils? And yet scarce 
any one thinks on the eternal miseries, scarce any 
one has the courage to expose himself to the least 
trouble, that he may escape them by pursuing virtue. 
This blindne^ is certainly so prodigious, that it is 
sufficient to deprive all those of their reason, thak 
consider of it. 

If, in the multitude of these pains, they could but 
in the least hope that they would one day come to 
an end, or after some time be diminished, it would 
be some comfort: but, on the contrary, the gate is 
there shut against all sorts of hope whatever. In 
the miseries of this world there is always a gate 
remaining open, where those that suffer expect some 
consolation. They are sometimes comforted by rea- 
son, sometimes by friends, sometimes by the know- 
ledge that several others undergo the same calamities 
with them, and, in fine, by the belief that these 
afflictions will not last for ever. But this last of all 
evils is the only one without any consolation ; the re- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 21 

probates see no door where they can find any safety ; 
neither heaven, earth, the time past, present, or 
future, nor all other things whatever, ofier them the 
least remedy ; which way soever they turn, they find 
themselves to be the mark of all the arrows of God's 
wrath. All creatures seem to have conspired against 
them, and they are themselves their own most un- 
ceasing tormentors. 

This is the state that these unhappy ones bewail 
in the prophet, saying, (Fsalm cxiv. 3,) " the sor- 
rows of death have compassed me; and the perils 
of hell have found me ;" because which way soevei 
they turn their eyes, they see only subjects of sorrow, 
and find nothing to comfort them. The virgins that 
were ready, says the gospel, entered into the palaoe 
of the bridegroom, and presently the gate was shut. 
The gate shut ! eternal shutting ! gate of all 
goodness, which shall never be opened again, who 
can sufficiently consider thee ? As if the gospel had 
more clearly said, the gate is shut for ever to pardon, 
to mercy, to hope, to grace, to merits, and, in fine, to 
whatsoever good can be expected. There are only 
six days that manna can be gathered in; on the 
seventh, which is the Sabbath, it is no longer to be 
found; he therefore shall fast for ever, who has not 
made provision while it was time. " Because of the 
cold," says the wise man, " the sluggard would not 
plough ; he shall beg therefore in the summer, and 
it shall not be given him." (Prov. xx. 4.) And 
m another place : " He that gathereth in the harvest, 



22 THE MEMORIAL OF 

is a wise son : but he that snorteth in the summer, 
is the son of confusion." ((7A. x. 5.) And in 
elFect, can there be imagined any confusion more 
strange than that of the unhappy miser, who might 
have bought all the treasures of heaven with the 
least crumbs of bread which fell from his table ; but 
having refused so small a thing to a poor beggar, is 
now, in punishment of his avarice, become himself 
m poor, that he asks, and shall for ever ask, one 
drop of water, without being able to obtain it ! 
Who would not be touched with the prayer he made ? 
"Father Abraham," says he, "have mercy on me, 
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his 
finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am torment- 
ed in this flame." (^I/uke xvi. 24.) Can one desire 
less ? He durst not ask a glass of water, nor* that 
Lazarus should put his hand into the water, not yet 
so much as his whole finger; he requests only, that 
tie touch his tongue with the tip of his finger, and 
this is denied him. 

This is to teach us, that this gate is so shut, tha.t 
there is not the least hope of comfort for the wicked ; 
and that this horrible excommunication fulminated 
against them, is so general, that they cannot expect 
BO small a refreshment. On what side soever they 
turn their eyes, which way soever they stretch forth 
their hands, they will find nothing to ease them: 
their condition is like to that of a drowning man ; 
sinking in the midst of the waves, and not knowing 
where to set his foot, he reaches forth his hands on 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 23 

erery side, because all he touches is but running 
water, which deceives and deludes him. Thus these 
victims doomed to the just vengeance of heaven, 
swallowed up in a deep ocean of miseries, shall be 
reduced to a continual combat and struggling against 
death, without finding any consolation on which 
they may rest. 

Behold then one of the greatest torments that is 
suffered in this place; for if these pains had any 
limited time, though it should extend to a thousand, 
or even a hundred millions of years, this would be 
at least some sort of comfort, since whatever has an 
end affords a certain hope. But the state of the 
damned is not of this nature ; their punishments 
continue with God's eternity, the continuance of 
their miseries equals the duration of God's glory; 
as long as God shall live, they shall die, nor shall 
they cease to be what they are, till God also ceases 
to be what he is. dying life ! immortal death I 
how shall I name thee ? Shall I call thee life or 
death ? If thou art life, how dost thou kill ? If thou 
art death, how canst thou endure ? I Will term thee 
neither the one nor the other, because both in the 
one and the other there is some good ; in life there 
is some rest, in death there is an end, which is a 
great ease to our afflictions : but there being in thee 
neither rest nor end, what canst thou be? Thou 
art all that is bad both in life and death ; for thou 
hast the torments of death, and not the end which 
it gives; thou hast the continuance of life, and not 



24 THE MEMORIAL OF 

the enjoy nient it brings. God has stript life and 
death of all the good they had, and placed in thee 
whatever they had of evil, for the punishment of the 
wicked. How bitter is this composition! How 
loathsome and intolerable is this drink of our Lord's 
cup, of which all the sinners of the earth shall 
drink ! Psalm Ixxiv. 

I could wish, then, that you would attentively 
consider this long duration, that you would penetrate 
as far as you can into this eternity, with the eyes of 
your understanding, and that, like the clean beast 
che v/ing the cud, (^Levit: xi. 3,) you would ruminate 
on this point as much as it deserves. And to facili- 
tate to you this meditation by an easy comparison, 
imagine how great the pain of a sick man is in one 
bad night, especially if he be tormented with any 
sharp distemper; see how often he turns himself in 
his bed, what disquiet he finds in himself, how long 
the time seems to him, how he counts all the hours, 
how slowly he thinks they pass, and with what im- 
patience he desires the day, which is yet so little 
capable to cure his disease. If the labor of one 
night appears so painful, what will be the torments 
of an eternal night, which has not any morning, 
nor expects the least dawning of the day! pro- 
found darkness ! eternal night, how terrible thou 
art ! Night, cursed by the mouth of God and his 
saints I which desireth light, and shall never see it; 
which wisheth for the brightness of the morning, 
and shall never enjoy it I But weigh a little more 



1 



A CHBISTIAN LIFB. 25 

what a horrible torment it will be to live eternally 
in such a night, not laid on a soft bed, as sick men 
are, but on a bed, or rather in a furnace, of burning 
flames. What body will be able to support these 
heats? How the very thoughts of them make me 
tremble ! If it be an insupportable pain to hold the 
end of the finger on a burning coal for a short space 
of time, what will it be to burn both body and soul, 
in the midst of these flames, whose heat is so sharp 
and penetrating, that those of this world are in com- 
parison of them but painted fires ? Is there yet any 
judgment on the earth ? Have men yet any reason ? 
Do they understand what these words mean ? Do 
they think them to be only fables and amusements, 
or that these things concern them not, but that they 
are spoken for others ? A Christian can allege none 
of all this, since his faith assures him the contrary. 

SECTION II. 

To this evil, which is already so great, succeeds 
another not one jot less, to wit, that these pains are 
always alike, always in the same degree, and the 
same rigor^ without receiving any diminution or 
abatement. All the heavenly bodies turn round with 
heaven, they never continue in the same station, they 
are always ascending or descending. The sea ebbs 
and flows, rivers increase and decrease ; times and sea- 
sons, the states of all men, even of kings themselves, 
are in continual motion ; there is no fever, how vio- 
lent soever, but has its intermissions ; there is no pain 
3 



26 THE MEMORIAL OF 

sc sharp, but when it comes to the utmost extremity 
it abates; in fine, time, by little and little, wears 
away all evils; and, as it is commonly said, there is 
nothing sooner dried up than tears. This pain alone 
is always fresh, this fever has no interval, these fits 
have neither evening nor morning. God, in the time 
of the deluge, caused it to rain forty days and forty 
nights without ceasing, (Gen. vii. 12,) and the world 
was drowned, but he will eternally rain the darts and 
arrows of his wrath upon the damned, without a 
moment of intermission. 

This is so true, that (according to the opinion of 
St Thomas, 1. 2., q. 87., art, 9., ad. 3,) the pains 
which shall be suffered in hell for venial sins, shall 
be of as long continuance as those which shall be in- 
flicted for mortal sins. For though venial sins merit 
not an infinite punishment, yet because in that place 
all debts are rigorously exacted, there being no re* 
mission of any, this torment shall continue always 
in one and the same degree, and one eternal duration. 
See, now, whether any state can be more intolerable 
than continually to suffer in the same manner, and 
without any alteration or change. Should a food be 
ever so delicate, yet if we were obliged to eat of it 
all our life, it would cause in us a disgust. The 
manna {Exod. 16,) which God sent to the children 
of Israel in the desert, was so excellent a food, that 
uothing could be imagined better, {Num. xxi. 4,) yet 
after the people had often eaten of it, it grew sc 
loathBome to them, that they oould no longer endure 



A CHRTSTIAN LIFE. 27 

it A straight and direct way is more tiresome than 
that which turns and winds ; for variety, even in dif- 
ficult matters, admits of some alleviation. Consider, 
now, if things that are pleasing cause a loathing in 
us, when they are frequent, what a vexation and dip - 
content such terrible pains will give us continuing 
always the same. What will be the thoughts of 
these unhappy wretches, when they shall see them- 
selves so forsaken and so hated by God, that he will 
never discharge them of the punishment of any one 
sin? The rage and fury they shall enter into will 
be so great, that they will never cease cursing «^nd 
blaspheming his holy name. 

SECTION III. 

To these evils you may add a new pain, which in- 
cessantly consumes and devours the damned; it is 
the worm of conscience, of which the holy Scriptures 
80 often speaks, saying, " Their worm shall not die, 
and their fire shall not be quenched." Is, Ixvi. 24. 
This worm is a raging despite, which possesses those 
wretches, and an unfruitful repentance, which shall 
always torment them, by putting them in mind of 
the time that was given them, and of the means 
Ihat were offered them to escape this miserable con- 
dition, which they unhappily neglected. With what, 
motions of fury will not sinners be agitated, when 
tiiey shall see themselves in this desolate state, with- 
out help and without hope; and shall remember how 
many days and years they have let unprofitably pass 



28 THE MEMORIAL 07 

away ; how often they were admonished of the dan- 
ger that threatened them, and how little did they 
regard it ! Do we not read in the gospel, that ''there 
shall be " in that place " weeping and gnashing of 
teeth?" Matt. viii. 12. 

These are, brethren, some of the principal causes 
of the torment that is in hell ; and to the end you 
may the better comprehend a thing which is of so 
great importance to you, I will set before your eyes 
an example, which very much represents the pain of 
the damned. Remember the history of Joseph, and 
the action he did in the time of the Egyptian famine. 
During seven years Grod sent so extarordinary an 
abundance of wheat, that it exceeded all measure, 
and equalled the very sand of the sea. Gen. xli. 49. 
The seven years of plenty being ended, the other 
seven, which followed them, were afflicted with so 
great and so universal a scarcity, that the very first 
year all Egypt came to Pharoah, saying, " Give us 
food :" the king sent them to Joseph, who required 
of them all the money they had, and gave them corn 
for a year. Having consumed their provision, they 
returned the next year to Joseph, and said to him, 
"Give us hresid :^\(Gen. xlvii. 15,) "why should we 
die in thy presence, having now no money ?" Josepb 
answered them, " Bring me your cattle, and for them 
I will give you food :" this was done. The next year 
after, finding themselves in the same extremity, they 
had again recourse to Joseph, with these words : 
" We will not hide from our lord, how, that our mone| 



A OHRIS'HAN LIFE. 29 

is spent, and our cattle also are gone : neither art 

thou ignorant, that we have nothing now left but our 

bodies and our lands. Why therefore shall we die 

before thy eyes ? We will be thine, both we and our 

lands : buy us to be the king's servants, and give us 

seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into 

a wilderness." Thus Joseph became master of all 

Egypt, by taking advantage of the people's incon- 

giderateness. 

Let us now see the profit you may draw from this 

history. Imagine with me, what were the thoughts 

of the Egyptians, when they remembered those 

happy years of plenty, and considered that they had 

not only a favorable opportunity to provide for their 

future necessities, but also to enrich themselves for 

their whole lives. Represent to yourself their vain 

repentance, and with what displeasure they made 

themselves these reproaches : Miserable that we are, 

with what ease might we not only have remedied the 

necessity of a year, but have also procured ourselves 

abundance for ever, and we would not ! Had we not 

been forewarned, our negligence might have been in 

some sort excusable ; but our misfortune was foretold 

us long before it happened. We might easily judge, 

that he who had spoken the truth of the things that 

were past, would not prove a liar in those that were 

to come. We saw with what earnestness and care our 

king's officers gathered together all the corn of the 

province, which ought to have taken away all doubt 

from our minds. And after this we let ourselves be 
3* 



30 THE MEMORIAL OF 

surprised : can such neglect and inconsiderateness be 
any way excused? What advantage might we not 
have received from the goods we might have then 
stored up, had we not prodigally wasted them ! — 
What riches might we not have gotten by what we 
spent and squandered away unprofitably? Where 
was our wit? Where was our reason, that we could 
not benefit ourselves by so advantageous a conjunc- 
ture ? These complaints would, without doubt, have 
been very just in the mouth of these wretches : but 
there is as little proportion between their misfortune 
and that of which we speak, between their blindness 
and that of the greatest part of men, as there is be- 
tween the shadow and the substance. The hunger 
they suffered lasted but seven years ; but this of hell 
shall be eternal: — that found a remedy, though it 
cost them very dear; this shall never have any: 
there was a means found to redeem them with money 
and some land ; but this can never be redeemed or 
compensated. Of this punishment there can be no 
remission; from this tribunal there is no appeal; 
this decree is not to be revoked. After the seven 
years were passed, that people began to come forth 
from their misery ; but in this we represent to you, 
whoever shall have begun to suffer, shall suffer eter- 
nally, and never know what ease and rest can be. 

If the sorrow and complaints of the Egyptians 
were, during that time, so great and so just, what shall 
be the affliction of these, when they shall see them- 
selves without remedy? when tearing themselves 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 31 

and pining away with grief, they shail say, " Wretch 
that I am, what time and what opportunities have 1 
suffered to pass away in vain ! I saw the season in 
which, for one glass of cold water, I might have 
gained a crown of glory ; when by giving something 
to the poor, I might have merited eternal life. What 
hindered me from casting my eyes upon the future? 
How did the present blind me ? Why did I let the 
years pass away unprofitably, which by their abun- 
dance gave me the means of being rich ? Had I lived 
amongst heathens, and believed that all was ended 
with the present life, I might have had some excuse 
before my Judge, and said to him, I knew not what 
you had reserved for me in the other life ; but living 
among Christians, having the happiness to be of 
their number, knowing by faith that this hour must 
come, the voice of the church continually warning 
me of it, seeing every day so many people, who, to 
benefit by her advice, made use of their time ; whose 
life was^^n invincible proof of what was taught us, 
and who hastened to make great provision of good 
works for this last hour; I see no excuse for me, 
nothing can justify my having continued deaf to so 
many voices, aad blind to so many examples ; heaven 
was offered to me for nothing, and there is no torment 
but I deserve for having so far forgotten myself. 
Infernal furies gnaw and tear my entrails. I have 
merited it. I deserve to be tormented with hunger 
for ever, since I would not in time provide myself 
with what was necessary. I deserve not to reap, 



32 THE MEMORIAL OF 

since I have not sown ; I deserve to Lave nothing 
since I stored up nothing ; let not anything now be 
given me of what I desire, since I heretofore refused 
what was so easy for me to give. I deserve eternal- 
ly to send forth cries, and shed tears in vain : as long 
as God shall be God do I deserve that the worm of 
my conscience should gnaw and devour me for ever, 
since for a little wealth which I enjoyed, I have lost 
infinite treasures, when that by depriving myself of 
so small a matter, I might have gained so great 
riches." Behold, what is that worm that shall never 
die ! Behold in what manner it torments th6 damned, 
and makes one of their greatest punishments. 

SECTION IV. 

I ASSURE myself, you will not be a little terrified 
at so many sorts of pains, and that you will believe, 
there can be nothing added to those of which I have 
spoken ; but God's arm is strong enough to chastise 
his enemies yet more rigorously. These sufi*eringa 
I have represented are great, but he can easily make 
them feel new ones; those we have observed are 
common to all the damned, but there are particular 
ones, which every one shall suffer according to his M 
crime, the proud shall be abased, and filled with " 
confusion; the covetous shall be driven to extreme 
poverty ; the glutton shall be tormented with per- || 
petual thirst and raging hunger ; the unchaste shall 
I urn in the flames which they themselves have kin- 
dled ; and all those who have employed their live* 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. i'd' 

only no invent new pleasures, shall live in aontinual 
tears. But because there is ordinarily nothing that 
more powerfully touches than example, I will state 
to you only one, to make you comprehend something 
of this truth. We read of a certain saint, to whom 
Grod granted the favor to see in spirit the punish- 
ment of a carnal man, who during his life had aban- 
doned himself to all sorts of sensual pleasures. He 
saw, as soon as this unhappy person had expired, tlw 
devils seize upon his soul, and with great joy present 
it to the prince of darkness, who was sitting in a 
chair of fire. Seeing before him this criminal, he 
rose up from his seat, and said he would surrender 
to him that honorable place, because he had been 
of quality in the world, and always treated with 
respect As soon as he was seated, and had, with 
terrible cries and groans, a thousand times cursed 
an honor that cost him so dear, two horrible devils 
presented him a cup of a most filthy and bitter 
drink, which they forced him to drink, saying, " It 
is fit you taste the wine which we drink here below, 
since on earth you loved delicious wines and dainty 
cheer." At the same time came in two other devils 
with two trumpets of fire, which setting to the ears 
of this man, they blew into them on both sides 
burning flames, mocking his misery with these 
words : " We have prepared for you this refreshment, 
because we knew you loved the delicacy or music.'' 
Two others followed, loaded with serpents and vipers, 
which throwing into his mouth, and on his breast, 



n4 THE MEMORIAL OF 

they said, " Since you were enamored of the kisses 
and caresses of women, it is just you should now 
feel other caresses, and make proof of other delights." 

It is thus, that in this place, for the punishment 
of the wicked, as the prophet speaks, " measure is 
opposed to measure," to the end, that by the diver- 
sity of the pains proportioned to the crimes, the or- 
der of God's justice and wisdom may appear with 
greater lustre. And God showed something of it in 
spirit to this holy man, to the end we might not be 
surprised, but might prevent these evils by sincere 
repentance. It is not that these things are mate- 
rially found in hell, but God makes use of them, to 
let us in some manner understand the torments that 
are there suffered, and the sorrows that accompany 
the damned. There is none, not the very heathens 
themselves, but have had some light into this matter ; 
for one of their poets having begun to relate some 
of the infernal torments, passes over the rest in 
silence, because of their multitude, declaring, that 
though he had a hundred mouths, as many tongues, 
and a voice of iron, yet he should not be able to re- 
cite so much as their names. Virg. ^n. lib. 6. It 
is a poet that speaks ; but we may truly say, that he 
spoke in this place like a prophet or an evangeli&t. 

If then these things are certain, and not to be 
avoided by the wicked, who is he, that looking on 
those things with the eyes of faith, can, without 
r<3nouncing his reason, and even the sentiments of 
Hclf-love, which always seeks its own good, and ii 



A tCmtrSTIAN LIFE. 3 



ever fearful of evil, forbear to change his life? To 
act otherwise, would be, indeed, to be reduced to th€ 
condition of beasts, who look no further than what 
is before them; it would be to have eyes and not tc 
see. '"^Hear, ye deaf," says Isaias, "and you that 
a,re blhid, open your eyes and see. Who yg blind 
but my servant ? and deaf, but he to whom I have 
Bent my messengers ? Who is truly without eyes, 
but he that has sufiFered himself to be sold for a 
slave ?" Isa, iv. 18, 19. People of th« world, who 
boast that they are so prudent, and see so many 
things, do they not see this ? Do they, who have 
such good ears, and hear every thing, continue deaf 
only on this occasion ? If you believe not what I 
say to you, you are no Christians ; and if you be- 
lieve it, and have not recourse to remedies, you are 
irrational. A philosopher has said, that there is this 
difference between opinion and imagination, that 
imagination alone is not sufficient to cause a fear, 
but there must be opinion to work this effect, Arist, 
de Anima, L 3. c. 3. For the imagination alone 
which I may have, that a house may fall upon me, 
will not put me in fear, unless my thought at the 
same time represents that this accident will happen. 
The continual apprehension in which murderers Kve, 
comes only from this source ; they fear, with reason, 
the wiles of their enemies. Now if it be true, that 
the apprehension of a danger is enough to strike a 
terror into the most resolute, how comes it, that the 
certainty of so many evils you have by faith, which 



^Q THE MEMORIAL Of 

80 far exceeds all science, does not cause you to 
tremble? If you see that you have so kng lived 
wickedly, that, at least, according to present justice, 
you are condemned to these pains, and that there ia 
nothing can make you reasonably presume you shall 
act belter for the future than you have done for so 
many years, how can you live at rest in the midst of 
so evident, so terrible a danger ? Or rather, how is 
it, that you are not in a continual fright, seeing the 
state you live in, the time you lose, the cruel regret 
you will therefore have, the shame and torments pre- 
pared for you ? This is so strange a blindness, it \b 
impossible for any one to comprehend it. 



CHAPTER II. 

What the Glory of the Blessed is. 

To the end we may want nothing to incline our 
hearts to virtue, having declared to you the punish- 
ments with which God threatens the wicked, I will 
speak of the reward he promises the good, which 
consists in eternal glory, and immortal life. It is 
true, there is not among angels or men, any one able 
to explain this recompense, or this life ; but to give 
you some glimmering, some relish of it, hear what St 
Augustin says, (Medit. c. 22, and 25.) " life, which 
God hath prepared for them that love him ; that life, 
the sole principle of life ; happy, secure, quiet life 



i 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. t^l 

pure, chaste, beauteous, holy life; that life which 
fears no death, dreads no sorrow ; life devoid of spot 
or stain, devoid of pain, corruption, anxiety or pertur- 
bation ; life, full fraught with dignity and excellence ; 
where there is no enemy to assault us ; no sin to se- 
duce us ; no fear to intimidate us ; but perfect love, 
an everlasting day, one and the same spirit in all^ 
where God is seen face to face, and where the soul i& 
continually feasted with the bread of life. 

'' Happy mansion of glory, the desires of my heart 
are directed to thee, thy infinite beauties constitute 
the delight of my soul ; the more I consider thee, 
the more I languish with love for thee ; sole object 
of my ardent desires, I am charmed with the sweet 
remembrance of thee. 

'' happy lifcy truly blessed, immortal, ever- 
lasting kingdom ! to which no period of time shall 
ever succeed : where there is one never-ending day, 
there can be no measure of time. Where they who 
have been victorious in the spiritual combat, shall 
join in concert with the holy Angels, and sing, 
without ceasing, the songs of Sion. 

"How happy my soul, and eternally happy, 
heavenly city, should it merit to contemplate thy 
glory, thy beauty, thy happiness ; to see thy gates, 
thy walls, thy streets, thy numerous buildings, thy 
. illustrious inhabitants, and thy Almighty Sovereign 
enthroned in splendor and majesty, in the midsi of 
thee ! For thy walls are of precious stones, thy 
gates of beauteous pearl, and thy streets of the 



38 THE MEIkrORIAL OF 

purest gold, ever resounding with joyful AUeluua. 
Thy many mansions are founded upon hewn, square, 
sapphire stone, and covered in with plates of gold : 
into these no man can enter, who is not clean ; no 
man can inhabit them, who is defiled. 

" Sweet and beautiful are thy delights, Jerusa- 
lem, our common mother. Thou feelest none of the 
trials and sufierings which we all behold and endui^e 
in this miserable life. Thou art subject to no inter* 
vals of darkness, no vicissitudes of night and day, 
no variety of seasons in their several courses. Thy 
light is not furnished by lamps or candles ; in thee 
there is no shining moon, no glittering stars, but 
Grod of God, light of light, even the sun of justice 
ever shines in thee ; and the white, immaculate Lamb, 
is thy pure, thy beauteous light ; thy sun, thy splen- 
dor, and all thy felicity consist in the never-failing 
contemplation of this most beautiful King. This 
King of Kings is in the midst of thee, and all his 
children surround and adore him continually. 

" There are the harmonious choirs of angels; there 
the assemblage of the heavenly citizens; there the 
joyful procession of all those blessed souls, who from 
the melancholy pilgrimage of this life, return to the 
never-ending joys of their heavenly country. There 
the choir of prophets, whom the spirit of God en- 
dued with the knowledge of future events ; there the 
twelve first preachers of the Christian religion, the 
blessed Apostles; there the victorious army of in- 
numerable Martyrs; there the sacred assembly of 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 39 

Confessors; there the true and perfect monks and 
religious ; there the holy women, who overcame the 
pleasures of the world and the infirmity of their sex ; 
there the virgins and youths^ who surpassed their years 
by their virtues and sanctity; there the sheep and 
lambs, who have escaped the snares of worldly pleas- 
ures ; these all rejoice in their proper mansions : and 
though the degree of glory in each is different, yet 
the joy of all is common, and shall be so for eternity. 
" There charity reigns in its highest perfection, 
because Grod there is all in all ; him they continually 
behold, and beholding continually praise and love, 
and love and praise without end, without labor, with* 
out ce^5sation ; this is their sole, their constant em- 
ployment. How happy shall I be, how supremely, 
how everlastingly happy, should I, after the dissolu- 
tion of this wretched body, deserve to hear the celes- 
tial and melodious hymns which are sung by the 
Saints, and troops of holy Angels, in praise of their 
eternal King ! How happy myself, how exceedingly 
happy, should I merit to join and sing in concert 
with them the praises of my King, my God, and my 
Redeemer ; to see him in his glory, as he vouchsafed 
to promise, when saying to his Father, * I will, that 
where I am, they also whom thou hast given me, may 
be with me, that they may see my glory, which thou 
hast given me, because thou hast loved me before the 
creation of the world.' (John xvii. 24.) And again< 
' If any man minister to me, let him follow me : and 
whi'.re I am, there also shall my minister be.' (Ih. xii. 



40 



THE MEMORIAL OT 



26.) And in another place : ' He that loveth me, shall 
be loved of my Father : and I will love him, and will 
manifest myself to him.' " (/6. xiv. 21.) 

Represent, therefore, now to yourselves, if you 
have lived in Grod's fear, what a day that shall be 
which shall shine over your heads, when finishing 
the course of this life, you shall pass from death to 
immortality, and that in the inevitable moment, when 
others shall begin to tremble, you shall begin to 
walk joyfully, because you shall perceive the hour 
of your redemption to draw nigh. " Endeavor," said 
St. Jerome to the Virgin Eustochium, (^Lih. de Cust. 
Virg.^ •' to get out of the prison of this body, and as 
if you were at the door of your heavenly bridegroom, 
set before your eyes the reward of your labors, which 
is ready for you. Think what a day that will be, in 
which the Blessed Virgin Mary shall come to receive 
you, accompanied with a troop of holy virgins, and 
when your Lord and Spouse, attended by all his 
saints, shall present himself before you, saying, 
' Come and make haste, my spouse, my fair one, my 
dove : for the winter is past, the rains and the storms 
are ceased, and the flowers begin to appear upon our 
land.' " 

How great, afterwards, shall that joy be, that your 
soul will receive, when it shall be presented by the 
angels, and particularly by him that was its faithful 
guardian, before the throne of the most Holy Trinity, 
and that they shall there declare the good works you 
shall have done, with the crosses and labors you shall 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 41 

have nndergone for God's sake I St. Luke writes, 
that after the death of Tabitha^ so famous for her 
alms-deeds, all the poor people and widows flocked 
about St. Peter, showing him the garments she had' 
given them, and that the apostle, moved with their 
loss and desolate condition, prayed to God for this 
holy woman, and raised her again. What a content 
will it be to your soul, when the blessed spirits, 
placing you in the midst of them, shall in this as- 
sembly, before the presence of God, make an exact 
relation of your alms-deeds, your prayers, your fast- 
ings, the purity of your life, your meekness in injuries,, 
your patience in labors, your temperance in the use- 
of this life's conveniencies, all the virtues you shall' 
ha\e exercised, and the good works you shall have 
performed ! What a satisfactioh you shall then relish 
from the good you shall have done, when you shall 
clearly understand the price and excellence of virtue I 
There the faithful and obedient man shall appear 
victorious, as the wise man says; there virtue shall' 
receive its reward, and the good be honored accord- 
ing to their merit. 

Another comfort you shall then enjoy, will be to 
cast back your eyes upon your past navigation, and 
consider the tempests that have tossed you, the straits 
you have sailed through, the dangers you have es- 
caped, and the pirates you have avoided; there you 
shall sing this song of the prophet: "If the Lord 
had not assisted me, I was ready to fall into hell r 

especially, when from that place of rest and glorj 
4* 



42 THE MEMORIAL OF 

you shall see so many sins that are hourly committed 
in the world, so many souls that daily descend into 
hell, and how, among so many wretches that are 
miserably lost, God would save you. What a glo- 
rious sight will it be to behold the triumphs that will 
be daily celebrated, when new inhabitants, after they 
have vanquished the world, and finished their course, 
shall come to receive their crowns in that blessed 
city ! What a joy will it be to see the seats filled, 
the walls repaired, and the buildings of that noble 
Jerusalem perfectly completed ! With what accla- 
mations will they be received by that celestial court, 
which shall see them laden with the spoil of their 
enemies ! Nor shall men alone enjoy this glory; there 
shall be seen also victorious women, that shall have 
together triumphed over the world, and the weeknes,^ 
of their sex. There shall you behold innocent 
virgins crowned with roses and lilies, for having uni- 
ted martyrdom with chastity, and at the same time 
conquered the world and the flesh. There shall be 
seen young children, who shall receive the recom- 
pense of their purity, their virtues having outstrip! 
their years. There, in fine, shall friends be recover- 
ed, masters found again, kindred known, and after 
thousands of Alleluias, a kiss of peace be given. 
The shade is sweet to those who have felt the heat 
of the mid-day sun ; a fountain is refreshing to the 
thirsty traveller: repose is pleasant to the laborer 
that has toiled all the day ; but far more sweet to 
ihe saints will be the enjoyment of peace after war, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 45 

of safety after danger, and of eternal rest after 
fcciuporary labors. 

The war being ended, arms, as no longer necessary, 
are no longer in use. The children of Israel fur- 
nished themselves with proper arms to conquer the 
land of promise ; but having once conquered it, they 
laid by their spears and swords, and burying the dis- 
orders of war in oblivion, every one, with the pleasure 
of peace, enjoyed the shade of his vine and of his 
fig-tree. (Mic. iv. 4.) There the eyes, tired with 
long watching, may sleep their fill ; there the sentinel 
of whom the prophet speaks, may come down from 
his watch, and leave the keeping of the tower ; there 
the blessed St. Jerome may now take his rest, who all 
his life watched day and night, beating his breast in 
prayer, and fighting courageously against all ihe 
powers of the old serpent. In this blessed country is 
not heard the rattling of the enemy's armor. The 
viper that winds itself up into a coil, lurks not there 
to sting us; the venomous sight of the basilisk does 
not there annoy us, nor the hissing of the serpent 
wound our tender ears; nothing is there heard but 
the sweet breathing of the Holy Grhost, or seen, but 
the glory of God. This is the country of peace and 
security, raised above all the elements, in which are 
found neither clouds nor tempests. " Glorious things 
are said of thee, city of God." Psalm Ixxxvi. 3. 
" Blessed," says holy Tobias, " are all they that love 
thee, and that rejoice in thy peace. My soul, bless 
thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath 



44 THE MEMORIAL OF 

delivered Jerusalem^ his city, from all her troubles. 
Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed to 
see the glory of Jerusalem. The gates of Jerusalem 
sljall be built of sapphire and of emerald, and all the 
walls thereof round about, of precious stones. All 
the streets shall be paved with white and clean 
stones; and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets.'' 
Toh. xiii. 18, &c. 

O happy country, how art thou stored with joy ! 
glory, full of sweetness! who shall those be for 
whom Grod has prepared such a felicity, and whom 
has he chosen to enjoy thee? To desire thee seems 
very presumptuous, and yet without desiring thee I 
neither will nor can live. Children of Adam, blind 
men, straying sheep, if this is your sheepfold, whither 
do you run ? Why do you suffer yourselves to lose 
so great a good, rather than take so little pains ? If 
labor be requisite to obtain thee, let all the labors in 
the world be laid upon me ; I willingly and heartily 
accept them. Let diseases torment me, let sorrows 
rain down upon me^ let me be persecuted on all sides, 
let all creatures conspire against me, let me be the 
reproach of men, le4) the whole world plot my ruin, 
let my life be consumed in griefs, and my years in 
groans, provided that after these storms I may find 
rest in the day of misery, and ascending to thee, 
may make a part of that people which is clad with 
so much beauty and glory. 

(xo now you that are so foolishly charmed with 
the love of this world ; go seek after honor, build 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 45 

palaces ; extend, if you can, the limits of your lands 
beyond measure ; command, if you will, over king- 
doms and worlds ; but assure yourselves that, after 
all this, you shall never be so rich nor so great as 
the least of God's servants, who shall receive what 
the world cannot give, and enjoy what shall last for 
ever. You, with your riches and pomp, shall be 
buried in hell with the rich glutton, and a despised 
servant shall, with poor Lazarus, be carried by 
angels into Abraham's bosom. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Advantages God promises the Good in this Life. 

I KNOW what the incredulous and libertines will 
say against what I have just now represented. They 
will allege that these are future goods and evils, that 
the heart of man is touched with present objects, and 
that there must be something of this nature to move 
them. But Grod has of his goodness abundantly 
provided for this also ; and, though he has reserved 
the most delicate viands for the end of the banquet, 
knowing nevertheless his children's weakness, he 
would not leave them without nourishment, for fear 
they might faint by the way. Thus, when he said to 
Abraham, " Fear not, Abraham, I am thy protector, 
and thy reward, exceeding great," he promised him 
by these words two things; one present, which was 



46 THE MEMORIAL OF 

his protection and assistance in all the reneountera 
of this life ; the other future, which was the reward 
of glory he reserved for him until the other. Now 
none can comprehend how great this first promise is, 
nor the vast number of benefits it includes, but those 
who have diligently read the Scripture, which repeats 
nothing so often or so earnestly as the abundance of 
the favors that God promises his friends in this life. 
Hear what Solomon says in his proverbs on this 
subject; "Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, 
and is rich in prudence : the purchasing thereof is 
better than the merchandize of silver, and her fruit 
than the chiefest and purest gold : she is more pre- 
cious than all riches ; and all the things that are 
desired are not to be compared with her. Length of 
days is in her right hand, and in her left riches and 
glory. Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths 
are peaceable. She is a tree of life to them that lay 
hold on her : and he that shall retain her is blessed. 
My son, let not these things depart from thy eyes ; 
keep the law and the counsel, and there shall be life 
to thy soul and grace to thy mouth. Th^en shalt 
thou walk confident^ in thy way, and thy foot shall 
not stumble. If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear; 
thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet." Behold 
the felicity and sweetness that is found in the way of 
the good; but see what the Scripture teaches us 
concerning that of the wicked. It is the wise man 
again who speaks in Ecclesiasticus : " The way of 
sinners is made plain with stones, and in their end is 



A CHRISTIAN LIFK. 47 

hell, and darkness, and pains." Ecd. xxi. Judge 
now, there being so wide a difference between these 
two ways, not only in respect of their end, but also 
of the steps which lead to it, whether there can be 
any reason to change the way of God for that of the 
world ; and whether it would not be an exceeding 
folly to choose rather the going through one torment 
to many others, than the passing from one rest to 
another far greater. 

But to the end you may more clearly perceive liow 
great this rest is, and know the abundance of the 
benefits that precede it in this life, I conjure you 
attentively to consider what God himself, in the 
prophet Isaias, promises those that shall keep his law. 
I shall relate the true sense which all interpreters 
give his words : When thou shalt do the things that 
I command thee, then shall the dawning of the day, 
who is the Sun of Justice, appear over thee, to dis- 
sipate all the darkness of the errors and disquiets 
that encompass thee ; thou shalt begin presently to 
enjoy a true and perfect health ; the holiness of thy 
good works shall go before thee as a torch, and the 
glory of the Lord shall surround thee on every side : 
then shalt thou call upon the name of the Lord, and 
he shall hear thee ; thou shalt implore his assistance, 
and he shall answer thee, that he is ready to grant 
thee whatsoever is necessary for thee : then shall the 
light of God's grace shine forth to comfort thee, in 
the midst of the darkness which the vexations and 
miseries of this life shall have brought upon thee \ 



4S THE MEMORIAL OF 

th J darkness shall be as the noon-day, since the jjord 
will, through his infinite goodness, bring it to pasa, 
that not only these miseries, but thy very falls and 
stumbles, shall serve as an occasion to advance thy 
happiness ; he shall give thy soul true peace and 
true rest in the time of famine and scarcity ; he shall 
give thee plenty and abundance, and thy bones shall 
be belivered from death and eternal flames: thou 
shalt be as a garden that is often watered, and as a 
fountain of living water that is never dry. What 
has long been ruinous in thee shall be rebuilt on su<jh 
firm foundations that ages shall not shake it. If 
thou takest care to sokmnize my festivals, and pro- 
fanest not their holiness by unlawful sports ; if thou 
dost not thine own will in opposition to mine^ but 
cheerfully and exactly performest what I this day 
command thee, then shalt thou rejoi<3e in the Lord, 
whose caresses surpass all the delights of the world : 
I will place thee above whatsoever is most exalted on 
earth — that is, in so happy a state of life that all 
the power of earthly felicity, and human nature, 
cannot come near it; and, in fine, to complete th^ 
happiness, I will fill thee with all good things, when 
I shall make thee partaker of that rich inheritance 1 
promised Jacob, thy father ; that is of heavenly joy 
and glory ; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken 
it. Isa. Iviii. 8, &<J , 

God's words are clear : himself represents the 
benefits he promises his servants; and though some 
iii them are for the future, yet the greatest part of 



k CHRISTIAN LIFE. 49 

tlicm respects even the present time. Of this nature 
is the new light and heavenly brightness with which 
he enlightens souls ; the abundance of things truly 
good, wherewith they are fully satisfied : their firm 
and assured confidence in him; the easiness with 
which he hears all the prayers of the just ; the peace 
and tranquillity of their consciences ; the particular 
protection he gives them ; the beauty, and, as I may 
say, verdure of grace, signified by that well-watered 
garden of which the prophet speaks ; the continual 
assistance of all that is useful for their salvation, 
meant by the fountain that never dries ; those divine 
delights and comforts which far exceed all worldly 
pleasures, and that supernatural elevation of mind, 
the purity of which all the strength of created nature 
can never attain to. All these so rare effects are 
favors God promises his elect, works of his mercy, 
gifts of his grace, testimonies of his love, and bless- 
ings that show his particular providence over them. 
It would be of great use to treat separately on each 
of them; but there is so much to be said on so 
copious a subject, that the brevity I design does not 
admit it. 

It is sufficient that you know that the good enjoy 
all these advantages in this life and the next, while 
the wicked are excluded from them in both ; that you 
thence judge how great a difference there is between 
them, the one being so rich, and the other so poor ; 
and that you thereby comprehend that the one are 
ia God's favor, the other in his displeasure ; the one 
5 



50 THE MEMORIAL OF 

are his friends, the other his enemies ; the one are in 
light, the other in darkness ; the one taste the jovs 
of angels, the other wallow in the pleasures of beasts : 
the one are truly free, and lords of themselves, the 
other are slaves of the devil and their own irregular 
desires; the one are always content, through the in- 
terior testimony of their conscience, and the other, 
except they are stark blind, are in continual disquiets, 
by reason of the worm that gnaws their hearts ; the 
one remain always firm in the midst of afflictions, 
and the other, like chaiF, are carried away by the 
wind; the hope of the one, like an immoveable 
anchor, places them in security, and the other, having 
nothing to support them, are exposed fco all the 
assaults of fortune ; the prayers of the one are ac- 
ceptable to God, and those of the other are despised ; 
the death of the one is sweet, calm, and precious in 
the eyes of God, and that of the other unquiet, 
troublesome, and disturbed with a thousand terrors : 
and, in fine, that the one, like God's true children, 
are in his keeping, and rest sweetly under the shadow 
of his providence, as under the protection of their 
father and their pastor ; and the other, excluded from 
this care, and this manner of conduct, wander about 
like strayed sheep, without a master and without a 
shepherd, exposed to the mercy of the wolves, and to 
all the dangers and evil accidents which are but too 
common in the world. 

Now, if all these advantages are the companions 
of virtue, what hinders you from embracing so le^roat 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 5\ 

a good, what can you say to excuse your negligence ? 
You cannot impute to me the having asserted any 
thing against the truth, since I have proposed noth- 
ing but God's word, and the testimonies of holy 
Scripture. You cannot say these benefits are but 
small, since we have shown they exceed all that 
man's heart can desire. You cannot pretend to be 
so much an enemy to yourself as to say you will 
have none of them, since man so naturally loves 
himself, that his will has always good for its object, 
it being the mark at which all his desires aim. To 
allege that you neither comprehend them, nor taste 
them, will not exempt you from guilt, since, though 
you have no sense of them, yet you believe them 
through faith ; for indeed the sense of them may be 
lost by sin, but not the faith. Now faith is a more 
certain, more secure, and more unquestionable proof 
than all other testimonies and experiences in the 
world. You ought, then, with this testimony to 
contradict all others^ and give more credit to faith, 
than to your own senses and judgment. And if you 
had but once made a strong resolution to cast your- 
self before the throne of God's mercy, you would 
soon find the effects of which these prophecies speak, 
accomplished in you; you would know how to set a 
value on the excellency of these divine treasures; 
you would see how blind the lovers of this world are, 
that they seek not after such advantageous favors ; 
and you v/ould discern with how much reason our 
Saviour invited you to embrace this lift, when he 



52 THE MEMORIAL Oi 

said, ''Come to me, all you that labor, anl are bur* 
dened, and T will refresh you. Take up my yoke 
upon you, and learn of me, because I am meek, and 
humble of heart: and you shall find rest to youi 
souls. For my yoke is sweet, and my burden light.' 
Matt. xi. 28, 29, 3C. God is no deceiver ; he makes 
no false promises, nor does he enhance their value. 
Why, then, do you fly ? Why do you renounce 
quietness and peace ? Why do you slight the voice 
of your pastor ? How come you to abandon virtue, 
having such a promise, signed, as I may say by God's 
own hand ? The queen of Saba heard far less things 
of the wisdom of Solomon, and she came from the 
ends of the earth, to be assured of what she had 
heard; and will you be so little careful of yourself, 
that being informed such wonderful things of virtue, 
you will not hazard a little pains to know, at least, 
whether they are true ? Trust, then, in God and his 
holy word ; boldly deliver yourselves up to him ; get 
rid of those trifles that hinder you ; and you will soon 
know that the merit and worth of virtue far exceed 
the praises that are given her, and that all we can 
say of her is nothing in comparison to what she is 
in reality. 



A CHRISTIAN LIPB. 5t! 



CHAPTER IV. 

That a man never ought to delay his Conversion. 
' having so many Debts to discharge, incurred by 
the faults of his past Life, 

If on the one side, the reasons that oblige us to 
change our life are so important and so numerous ; 
and on the other, nothing can excuse us from making 
this change, tell me what time you expect for the ap- 
plying yourself to so necessary a work? Cast your 
eyes on your past life, and at what age soever you 
are, know, that it is time that you begin to discharge 
your conscience of your old debts. Consider that you 
are Christians, that you are regenerated by the sacred 
waters of baptism, that you have God for your Fath- 
er, ever since the church became your mother in this 
divine sacrament ; that you have been nourished with 
the milk of the gospel, the doctrine of the apostles,, 
and, what is incomparably more holy, with the very 
bread of angels in the most august sacrament of the 
altar ; and that, with all these advantages and graces, 
you have lived as licentiously as if you had been 
mere Pagans, having no knowledge of the true God. 
What sin have you not committed? Where is the 
forbidden tree on which you have not cast your eyes ? 
VfThat green meadow has been excepted, at least from 
your desires and irregular concupiscences ? ( Wisd, 
ii.) There has not any object been presented before 
5* 



54 THE MEMORIAL OF 

yoii, but hus rendered your looks criminal ; there ha^ 
been no sensual desire in you, which you have not 
endeavored to entertain, though you knew you had 
a Grod, and were Christians. What could you have 
done mor^ had you been without any faith at all, 
had you expected no other life, had you feared no 
future judgment? Consider that your life has been 
a continual train of sins, a heap of vices, a way of 
precipices, and an inexcusable disobedience to God's 
will. You have till this time had commerce only 
with your passions; the flesh, vain honor, the world, 
have hitherto been your gods: they have been the 
the idols you have served, and whose laws you have 
studied, thinking no more on God, and the obedience 
you owe him, than if he did not exist. I say noth- 
ing to you but the truth, there being but too great 
a number of Christians who, firmly believing that 
there is a God, sin with as much ease as if they cer- 
tainly knew there were none; and being fully per- 
suaded of the truth, do the same actions as if they 
were assured it were a lie. Certainly, brethren, you 
cannot do a greater injury to Almighty God, you can 
no way more sensibly affront his divine Majesty nor 
more clearly manifest the excess of your blindness, 
than by believing all that the Christian religion 
teaches, and living as if it were but a fable, or a 
mere invention. 

This is a point that deserves to be duly considered, 
and if the multitude of your sins, and the ease wfth 
which you have comuiitted them, do not terrify you, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 55 

yet at least the greatness of him you have offended 
should make some impression on you. Lift up your 
eyes, and behold the infinite majesty of that Lord 
whom all the powers of heaven adore, before whom 
the whole world prostrates itself, in 'whose presence 
all created things are but like the chaff that is driven 
away hy the wind ; and then consider how great a 
crime it is for such worms of the earth as we, to 
have been so audacious as to offend him, and with 
60 much insolence provoke the indignation of the 
world's Creator, and sovereign Lord of all things. 

Nothing displeases God so much as sin, and of 
this we have many very evident proofs, by the severe 
ehastisements with which his justice has punished it, 
not only in particular persons, but also in great cities, 
in provinces, in kingdoms, in nations, and finally, in 
the whole world. His just wrath extended itself not 
only over the earth ; heaven was not exempt from it; 
nor was it executed only on sinners and strangers, but 
t)n the innocence of his own Son, who undertook to 
«ati»fy for them. " And if these things be done in 
the green wood," and for others' sins, "what shall be 
done in the dry," (Luke xxiii. 31.) which is found 
loaden with its own offences? And can there be 
imagined any greater folly than for weak and misera- 
ble man to presume to mock (xod, whose hand is so 
powerful, that it can in one instant thrust him for 
ever into hell? 

On the other side, consider God's extreme patianee, 
lyith whi^h he \isls all along^ fmm the very first tinte 



56 nm mfstorial &f 

nf jonr offending him, waited for yaur repentance, 
and assure yourself^ tbat if, after so many years of 
goodness as be has made use of to bring you to do 
penance, you still abuse his mercy, and so little fear 
his anger, "except you will be conyerted, he will 
brandish his sword : he hath bent his bow, and made 
it ready And in it he hath prepared the instm- 
ments of death ; he hath made ready his arrows, for 
them that burn." Fs. vii. 18, 14. 

Consider besides the depth of his judgments, of 
which we read, and daily see such wonderful effects. 
We see Solomon, after he had receired such greali 
wisdom — after he had uttered three thousands pro- 
verbs — after he had been enlightened with the know* 
ledge of the most abstruse mysteries,, so far at last 
forsaken as to prostrate himself before false gods. 
We see one of the fii-st seven deacons appointed in the 
ehurch, after so many graces, and after receiving of 
Holy Ghost, become not only a heretic, but the chief 
of heresiarcbs. We see every moment so many glit- 
tering stars fall miserably from heaven, pleased with 
wallowing in the mire, and reduced to the food of 
swine, instead of the bread of angels, with which 
they were fed at their father^s t^ble. Now, if the 
just, after so many years' service, for some concealed 
ingratitude, are thus abandoned by God^ what must 
they expect who have all their life scarc^jV done any 
thing but multiply their offences ? 

Can then any thing more reasonably be proposed 
40 all those that are engaged in this manner cf Ufa, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 57 

than to leave it off? Can any thing be more just, 
than to exhort them no longer to add sin to sin, and 
debt to debt, but to begin at length to serve God; 
and ease their souls of so heavy a burden ? Have 
they not given enough to the flesh, to the world, and 
the devil ? Is it not fit, that after so long a delay, 
they should give something of what is left them, to 
Him who gave them all? In fine, is it not time, 
after so many injuries, to fear the divine justice, 
which is so much the severer against the wicked, as 
it has suffered them with greater patience ? Ought 
any thing so justly be feared, as the continuing so 
long in sin, and God's displeasure ? as the having so 
powerful an adversary, and making him, instead of 
a merciful Father, a judge and an enemy ? Ought 
any thing more to be apprehended, than the force of 
ill custom, which changes into nature, and makes al- 
most a necessity of vice ? And finally, is there any 
thing so formidable, as the letting one's self go by 
little and little, to so dangerous a precipice as a re- 
probate sense, into which when a man is once fallen, 
he no longer cares for any thing? The patriarcii 
Jacob said to his father-in-law Laban, " Fourteen 
years have I served thee, and taken care of thy goods : 
it is reasonable therefore that I should now provide 
also for my own house." {Gen. xxx.) Thus is it not 
fit, that after so many years as you have employed 
in the service of this world, you should begin to 
think on your soul, and provide for that which is to 
come? There is nothing so short, or so frail, as 



58 THE MEMORIAL OP 

man's life: why then do you labor with so much 
earnestness to store up for a thing of so short a con- 
tinuance, and never think of making any reserve 
for a life that shall last for ever ? 



CHAPTER V. 

Conclusion. 

If the things we hitherto represented are so certain 
that they cannot be doubted of, I conjure you now, 
brethren, by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, to 
remember yourselves, to consider that you are Chris- 
tians, and to hold truly all that faith teaches you. 
She teaches you, that you have above you a Judge, 
who watches over all your actions, before whom 
all the moments of your life are present, and that 
there will come a day, when he will ask you an ac- 
count of them, even of an idle word. She teaches 
you, that man ends not with death, but that after 
this transitory life there remains another, which lasts 
for ever. She teaches you, that the souls die not 
with the bodies; but that the body remaining in the 
grave, the soul enters into a new world, where she 
shall have entertainment and company suitable to the 
life she has led in this. She teaches you, that re- 
wards of virtue and punishments of vice are so great. 
that though the whole world were full of books, and 
all creatures employed to write, yet would the world 



^ A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 59 

want writers and books, before what each of these 
two things comprehends could be fnlly explained. 
And, in fine, she teaches you, that you are so much 
indebted to God, and his gifts are so great, that 
though man had as many lives as there are sands in 
the sea, they would be all but little to be employed 
in his service. 

Since then we have such powerful motives to in- 
cline us to virtue, whence comes it, that there are 
found so few who love and follow it? If men are 
guided by interest, what greater interest can there be 
than an eternal life ? If they fear punishment, what 
torment can be greater than that which lasts for 
ever ? If favors and obligations win the heart, what 
obligations can equal those we have to Grod, as well 
in respect of what he is, as in consideration of what 
we have received from his bounty? If we are 
touched with the fear of dangers, what is more to be 
apprehended than death, the hour whereof is so un- 
certain, and which engages us to so exact an account? 
If peace, liberty, repose of mind, and a pleasant life, 
are things which every one flesires, it is clear they 
are far better found in the life which is governed by 
the rules of virtue, than in that which is guided only 
by fancy and passion, since man is a reasonable crea- 
ture, and by reason differs from beasts. And, in fine, 
if all this seems but little to oblige you to have the 
esteem you ought for so important a matter, is it not 
enough to know that God came down from heaven, 
and was made man for this purpose; and that hav- 



60 THE MEMCllIAL OF 

'iig completed the creation of the whole world in 
seven days, he bestowed three and thirty years on 
this work, and even laid down his own life to bring 
it to perfection ? God died to make sin die, and yet 
you will make this monster live, which God by his 
own death would make to die. What can I say 
more? We have but too many reasons, if we will 
make use of them, in treating on this subject. I no 
longer bid you behold a God fastened to a cross ; it 
is sufficient to look on his creatures : which way 
soever you turn your eyes, you will find all things 
calling you, and inviting you to this excellent good ; 
since there is no creature but speaks to us, and 
teaches us that we ought to love and serve God. 
Thus, whatsoever things there are in the world, they 
are all so many preachers, so many voices, and so 
many reasons, which call us to God. 

Is it then possible, that all these voices, all these 
promises, and all these threats, are not forcible 
enough to bring us to him? Could God do more 
than he has done? Could he promise any thing 
greater ? Could he threaten us with any thing more 
terrible, to win us, and withdraw us from sin ? And 
yet such is the presumption of men that believe 
these truths, or rather such is the charm wherewith 
they are bewitched, that they fear not to continue all 
their life in sin, to lie down in sin, to rise up in sin, 
and to abandon themselves to all sorts of crimes, with 
as little scruple and apprehension, with as much rest 
m their sleep, and as much satisfaction at their 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 61 

meals, as if all they believe were but dreams, and 
the gospel told them nothing but fables. Rebellious 
souls, obstinate spirits, hardened hearts, firebrands 
prepared to burn in flames for ever, what could you 
do more, if all that you believed passe ^ with you for 
lies? The fear of the world makes you moderate 
your desires, and that of God has no operation on 
you. It hinders you not from gratifying your lusts, 
from taking revenge on all that displeases you, and 
executing, if it be in your power, whatever your 
passions inspire to you. Blind and senseless as you 
are, feel you not, amidst the assurance in which you 
live, some remorse of conscience ? Are reason and 
judgment quite extinct in you ? Is it possible, that 
60 great, so certain, and so real dangers terrify you 
not at all ? If a dish of meat were set before you, 
and some one, whom you even suspect to be a liar, 
should acquaint you that there was poison in it, would 
you dare to touch it, how delicious and inviting soevei 
it might be, and how uncertain or unlikely soever the 
information that was given you might appear ? The 
prophets, the apostles, the evangelists, God himself, 
cry out aloud and say to you — Miserable men, death 
is in that dish, death is in that delicious morsel, which 
the devil sets before you, and you are so besotted, as 
to let your own hands give you your death, by eating 
what destroys you. Reason and judgment have no 
longer any place in you; their light is extinct, their 
very snufF is quite put out^ since they are not able to 

put a stop to the least of your vices. Madmen, 
6 



62 TUB MEMO-RIAL OP 

enchanted by the artifices of your enemy, condemned 
for ever to interior and exterior darkness, td pass 
from the one to the other ; blind men^ who see not 
your misery, who are insensible of your unhappiness, 
and who being harder than the adamant, are not 
mollified by the divine words ^'how wretched you are I 
how fit you are to be lamented with those very tears 
with which our Saviour bewailed your loss, when he 
said, " If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy 
day, the things that are to thy peace ; but now they 
are hidden from thy eyes !" {Lnikt xix. 42.) How 
unfortunate was the day of your birth, how deplora- 
ble will be that of* your death, since it shall see your 
last condemnation ! It had been better for jou never 
to have received life,, than to be lost for ever ; it had 
been better for you never to have been baptized, 
never to have received any light of faith, than to 
have rendered your condemnation more terrible, by 
having misused these graces. For if the philoso- 
phers, as the apostle says, {Rom. i. 20, 21,) were 
inexcusable, because, having reason enough to know 
Gfod, they glorified him not as they ought; those 
shall, without doubt, be far more culpable, who, after 
the inestimable grace of baptism, after the gift of 
faith, and after having every year received their God 
in the eucharist, have done nothing more than these 
philosophers. 

What then can we conclude from this discourse, 
but that there is no other prudence, no other wisdom 
no other counsel ta be taken in this world, than ta 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 63 

renounce the hurry and tuniult of this life, and 
betake ourselves to the only and true way that leads 
us to an assured peace, and a life that never ends ? 
This, reason commands us : to this, prudence, faith, 
heaven, earth, hell, life, death, God's justice and 
mercy call us ; and to this, does the Holy Ghost, by 
the mouth of Bcclesiasticus, particularly invite us : 
'* My son," says he, *'' from thy youth up receive in- 
struction, and even to thy grey hairs thou shalt find 
wisdom. Come to her as one that plougheth and 
soweth, and wait for her good fruits : for in working 
about her thou shalt labor a little, and shall quickly 
eat of her fruits." Eccles. vi. 18, 19, 20. "Give 
ear, my son, and take wise counsel, and cast not 
away my advice. Put thy feet into her fetters, and 
thy neck into her chains ; bow down thy shoulder, 
and bear her, and be not grieved with her bands. 
Come to her with all thy mind, and keep her ways 
with all thy power ; search for her, and she shall be 
made known to thee, and when thou hast gotten her, 
let her not go. For in the latter end thou shalt find 
rest in her, and she sha-U be turned to thy joy. 
Then shall her tetters De a strong aefence for thee, 
and a firm foundation, and her chain a robe of glory.'- 
Eccles. vi. 24, &c. 

These words of the wise man concern you, and the 
Holy ''Ghost dictated them only to let us understand 
in an excellent manner, how great the beauty, the 
delights, and riches of true wisdom are, which is 
nothing else but virtue, and that delightful know- 



64 THE MEMORIAL OP 

ledge of Grod, of which we treat. But if yoiy heart 
is not yet won by so many benefits, lift up your eyes 
on high, and mind no longer the fleeting waters of 
this world ; but turn your face towards your Master, 
whom you behold dying on the cross, and satisfying 
for your sins. If you consider the posture in which 
he is, you will see that he has his feet fastened with 
nails, to wait for you, his arms stretched out to 
receive you, and his head bowing down to give you, 
as to the prodigal son, a kiss of peace. From thence 
(if you will hear him) he calls, with as many voices 
as there are open wounds on his body. Give ear to 
him, listen to his cries, and believe, that if his prayer 
is not heard, who hearkened not to the poor man's 
complaint, much more ought yours to be rejected, if 
you continue deaf to the voice of God. 

Now, if at last this powerful voice has touched 
you, if you are firmly resolved to change your life, 
and betake yourself to true penance, the following 
Book will show you how this is to be done. 

(CND OF THB IIBST BOOK. 



% Pmorial of a C|nstira Jift 



BOOK II. 
OF PENANCE AND CONEESSION, 



INTRODUCTION. 



Of all the evils that at this day reign in the world, 
there is none more deplorable than the manner many 
Christians use in confessing their sins, at such time 
as the Church commands it; for except a small 
number that live in the fear of God, and take some 
care of their souls, the rest bring not any preparation 
to this divine sacrament, never scrupling to come 
unto it, without giving themselves the least trouble to 
examine their consciences. Thence it happens, that 
they have no sooner ended their confession, and been 
partakers of the holy communion, but they again 
resume their former course, and the week appointed 
them for their penance is scarce ended, when they 
plunge themselves afresh in the mire, out of which it 
was endeavored to draw them, and return like dogs 
to their vomit. 

As this disorder cannot be committed without 
becoming guilty of the highest contempt against God 
and his Church his ministers and sacrament ; and as 
6* 65 



66 THE MEMORIAL OF 

it is iudeed a mocking of his goodness, to ask him 
once a year pardon for the injuries we have done himj 
to protest to him that we will amend, and presently 
after fall to committing of greater offences; so it 
usually happens, that the divine Slajesty, justly pro-! 
voked against such insolent prevaricators, exercises 
on them, not only the most dreadful of all punishments,: 
but also the most just, and the most suitable to their 
fault. He leaves them entirely to themselves, he 
suffers them thus to make a mockery of things the 
most holy, even to the end of their lives; and when 
they are surprised by death, they are found like 
those who, till that time, never had done true pen- 
ance : that is, their end, as the apostle speaks, is 
" according to their works." 2 Cor. xi. 15. " They 
have not returned unto me with their whole heart, 
but with falsehood," says our Lord, by the prophet. 
Jer. iii. 10. " They have used lying and hypocrisy, 
and I will deal with them," says the Lord, " as with 
the deceivers and hypocrites." With good reason 
does he give the name of lying to all false and out- 
side penance, ordinarily done by worldly people, for 
indeed there is nothing more false : they think to 
deceive God, and in the meantime they deceive 
themselves; they flatter themselves, and esteem 
themselves penitents, because they have done some- 
thing exteriorly, which resembles penance, but which 
is altogether unprofitable and unfruitful. 

Let them then take care to dispose themselves to 
true penance; and if any one makes this noble 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 67 

resolution, a ad desires to be truly penitent, I will, in 
a few words, declare to him what it is he must do. 
I will for this purpose set before you the most 
common advices given by the fathers : I call them 
common, because they are very clear to those that 
have any knowledge of theology ; but since they are 
unknown, and not understood by the simple, for whose 
salvation we have principally undertaken this work, 
we shall treat of them clearly and in order. This 
sacrament consists of three principal parts; Contri- 
tion, Confession, and Satisfaction ; and because it is 
of the greatest importance for these three things to 
be perfect, discoursing of each of them separately 
and in particular we shall succinctly show you what 
true penance is. 



CHAPTER 1, 



Of the first part of Penance, which is Contrition , 
and the means to obtain it. 

IIe, then, that unfeignedly desires to be converted ; 
he that, well instructed in the vanity of the world, 
and the obligation he has to serve God, resolves, like 
the prodigal child, to return to his father's house : 
he, I say, must know, that Contrition is the first and 
principal gate by which he is to enter into it i and 
that this is one of the most valuable aud most 
[jgreeable sacrifices that can be offered to Almighty 



68 THE MEMORIAL OF 

(rod ; which made the prophet say, " A sacrifice to 
God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humble 
heart, God, thou wilt not despise." Ps. 1. 19. 

Now in this contrition there are two principal 
parts : the one is a horror of past sins ; the other, a 
resolution of future amendment. This we say, be- 
cause contrition, to speak properly, is an aversion to, 
and a hatred of sin, inasmuch as God is offended by 
it; and consequently, he that truly hates sin, equally 
detests the sins he has committed, and those he may 
commit, because the one and the other are equally 
displeasing to God. There is, notwithstanding, this 
difference, that as to past offences, since they cannot 
now be recalled, it is sufficient to look back upon 
th6m with sorrow; but as for those to come, which 
depend on the will, there must be a firm resolution 
never to commit them. Thus it is clearly seen, as 
St. August'in teaches in his book of the Remedy of 
Penance, that it is not sufficient for the appeasing the 
wrath of God, that men change their lives and re- 
nounce their past sins ; but they are obliged also, for 
the satisfying God's honor, whom they have insulted, 
to have recourse to the remedies that accompany 
penance; they must be truly sorrowful, they must 
offer in sacrifice a contrite and humble heart, and 
efface their crimes, by works of mercy. 

According to this, the first thing a true penitent 
ought to endeavor is, to have a great sorrow for his 
offences, entering into the sentiments of that holy 
penitent, who said, " I will call to mind before thee. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 69 

Lord, all the years of my life, in tho bitterness of 
my soul." And this sorrow ought not principally to 
proceed from the sinner's having, by his crimes, de- 
served hell and forfeited heaven, with all the benefits 
that are lost by sinning ; (though this kind of sor- 
row is good, when it hath God for its obj(^ct, whom 
we have offended ;) for since God deserves to be 
loved and esteemed above all things, reason wills, 
that we be far more afflicted for losing and offending 
him, than for anything else whatsoever. The greater 
the sin, the greater the sorrow should be ; yet the 
mercy of God is such, and the desire he has to save 
us so great, that though the sorrow be not altogether 
such as I have described, yet the virtue of the 
sacrament of penance, which gives grace to him who 
puts no impediment to the receiving it, being joined 
unto it, will suffice for the obtaining remission of 
the sin. This is what divines commonly say ; that 
the sacraments of the l^w of grace render a man 
contrite, who had been only attrite ; and as 'a candle 
that is newly put out, and has not totally evaporated, 
is easily lighted ; so the soul which yields some fer- 
vor by the virtue of attrition, though it yet burns 
not, is easily inflamed, and revives by the power of 
the sacrament. But to know what the attrition is 
that suffices to produce this effect, is not, brethren, 
given to men ; God only knows it, from whom noth- 
ing is hid. 

You shall observe also, for the comfort of the 
weak, that it is not always necessary for the sorrow 



70 THE MEMORIAL OF 

of which we speak, to be of the nature of those that 
are termed sensible, because they are in the sensitive 
part of the soul, and produced exteriorly by tears. 
One may, without this, be truly sorrowful, and truly 
penitent, as when our will detests sin above all 
things, how odious soever, which often happens with- 
out the shedding of tears, or feeling this kind of 
sorrow. 

We shall hereafter explain how the grief neces- 
sary to make one truly penitent may be acquired, and 
by what means the possession of so great a good may 
be attained. In the meantime I shall tell you, that 
the second thing, and the most important to uhe 
having this contrition, is to form in one's self a firm 
resolution never to offend God by any mortal sin ; 
this resolution, as well as the regret for sins committed, 
must not have for its principal motive either heaven 
or hell, or any other interest that respects ourselves, 
but the love of God alone : and the sinner ought in 
this point to resemble a virtuous wife, whose heart is 
firmly resolved rather to lose her life than violate 
the faith she has promised her husband, and who is 
not thus resolute in preserving her loyalty to him, 
go much for fear or interest, as for the love she bears 
him. This is the disposition I desire in you, though 
to fear the pains of hell, or to wish for heaven with 
its reeompences, is not an evil thing, but profitable 
and commendable, as being a gift of God. 

Moreover, as the penitent is obliged to have n firm 
resolution to avoid sin for the future, so he mus 



rmj 

1 



A CHRISTIAN LTPE. 71 

forsake the sins to which he is yet subject, if they 
are mortal ; otherwise his confession will no longer 
be a confession, but a sacrilege, and an abuse of the 
sacrament. He that confesses, and he that absolves 
him in this condition, would be equally guilty; and 
t?o this confession, instead of blotting out sins, would 
serve only to add another more grievous. Beware 
of falling into this misfortune ; take heed of making 
a poison of a medicine, or a condemnation of what 
God has instituted for your remedy, and the only 
means to recover out of mortal sin ; consequently, if 
a man has any hatred in his soul against his neigh- 
bor, or if this hatred has passed so far as to become 
an enmity^ he must, before all things, put off this 
ill-will, be reconciled to him, and restore his reputa- 
tion, if he has endeavored to deprive him of it, espe- 
cially if there might happen any dangerous scandal 
by not doing it ; in which the advice of his confessor 
IS to be followed. This is what often happens, and 
this conduct is wholly necessary, when there is found 
any one who refuses his brother the pardon he asks 
of him In the court (as it is termed) of conscience ; 
for by this hardness he scandalizes his brother, and 
gtirs up afresh his hatred against himself. 

It is the same with the restitution of another's 
goods, which must be immediately restored to the 
person to whom they belong : I say immediately, be- 
cause this restitution must not be delayed when it 
can be done ; nor is it sufficient for you to have an 
intention of restoring hereafter, or by your last wiH 



72 THE MEMORIAL OP 

if you can out of hand acquit yourself of thie obli- 
gation, though it be by inconveniencing yourself, 
especially if he whose goods you detain is himself 
in the same or such like condition. There are 
many things to be said touching the necessity of 
immediate restitution, and there are many false 
pretences, with which such as are unwilling to re- 
store, flatter and deceive themselves : those that de- 
sire to be secure in conscience, will take advice of 
their spiritual directors, who will shew them, that 
not only he who has taken another man's goods, or 
done him any damage, is bound to restore the one, 
and repair the other ; but he also that has been the 
occasion of it; he that has either counselled it or 
consented to it ; he that has received the same into 
his house as such ; he that has bought any thing of 
a suspected person ; he that has hidden or concealed 
such in his house ; and, in fine, he that has not hin- 
dered the evil, if it was in his power to do it. All 
these, and every one of them in particular, are bound 
entirely to make good the damage that has been 
caused by any of these ways ; and any of them hav- 
ing satisfied it, all the rest are obliged to reimburse 
him who has paid for them all. 

As there is a sort of restitution that regards goods 
unjustly detained, so there are two others that respect 
reputation and honor. The first is, if we have pub- 
lished some important and secret fault of our neigh- 
bor ; and the second, if we have done him any in 
jury by word or deed. In the first place we ar 






A CIIElifTlAN LIFE, 73 

abliged, if it may be advantageous to hini, to restore 
the good opinion that might be had of him, and to 
repair the estimation and lustre of his reputation, 
which we had endeavored to tarnish; and for the 
second, it is absolutely necessary to satisfy the person 
we have offended, either by asking him pardon, or 
doing him some other service that may equal the 
injury he has suffered, or by both, according to the 
advice of our confessor. Thus you see three different 
restitutions we are bound to ; to wit, of goods, of 
reputation, and of honor; on which none can be too 
exact in examining himself, for the discharge of his 
conscience. 

Another point, which is of very great importance, 
and without which there cannot be any true and 
solid penance, is the avoiding of dangerous occa- 
sions. Thus those that have any dishonest com- 
merce, that are engaged in any evil design, or in any 
unlawful affection, are obliged to shun these occa- 
sions, if they will receive the grace of the sacrament. 

Nor is it enough that your heart is removed from 
gin, unless you remove also the occasion of sinning ; 
for otherwise you cannot possibly avoid it. It is a 
dangerous error into which many persons fall, who, 
pure as they believe their intention, imagine all to be 
safe, not perceiving that the seed of the evil is in 
them, which will never fail to spring forth in its 
time. St. Bernard saw very clearly into this misfor- 
tune, when he said, " You converse daily with a wo- 
man, and do you pretend to be esteemed chaste? 
7 



74 THE MEMORIAL Of 

Though you should be so, you cannot at least.avoid 
the giving occasion to evil suspicions ; and I tell you 
that by acting thus, you cause a scandal, of which 
you ought to take away both the cause and the mat- 
ter, since it is written, ' Wo to that man by whom 
the scandal cometh.' " Matt, xviii. 7. And the same 
saint, in one of his sermons on the Canticles, says 
another word which ought far more to frighten us: 
•* It is, perhaps, a greater miracle for a man to dwell 
with a woman without losing his chastity, than to 
raise a dead man to life. If you cannot do what is 
easier, how will you have me believe, that you will 
do what is more difl&cult ?" 

Wherefore, you must absolutely break this com- 
merce ; you must banish all occasions of sin ; espe- 
cially when the veil of modesty has been once re- 
moved, and the evil taken its course; for as long 
as this door is open to it, it is impossible, morally 
speaking, but it will continue, and you be daily more 
irrevocably engaged in it. But if you tell me, it is 
difficult for you to separate from this occasion^ because 
you must put out of your house some person to whom 
you have great obligations, or who is very necessary 
to you ; I answer this weak excuse by the words of 
our Saviour: "If thy hand or thy foot scandalize 
thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee. It is better 
for thee to go into life maimed or lame, than having 
two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting 
fire." Matt: xviii. 8. This remedy seems harsh: 
but as there are some corporal diseases which cannot 



A CHRISTIAN LIJ'S:, 75 

be ctired but by the knife and the fire, and as a limb 
must be sometimes cut off to save the body ; so there 
are some spiritual distempers which require remedies 
no less severe. God's law, which is very sweet and 
very equitable, is not to be blamed for this ; the fault 
is yours, sinner, who have renounced all shame, who 
have voluntarily thrown yourself into the evil, who 
have taken pleasure to provoke and rouse up a wild 
beast in his own den, where you can neither fly, nor 
defend yourself No wonder, then, that you suffer 
the punishment you have deserved, that you reap 
what you have sown, and that you undergo much 
toil, to drive your enemy out of your house, since you 
yourself opened the door to let him in. 



CHAPTEE II. 

On the principal means to obtain Contrition^ and 
particularly of true Sorrow for Sin 

You have seen what concerns the two most essen- 
tial parts of contrition ; let us now see by what means 
they may be attained, and principally examine the 
first of those conditions, which is, the sorrow for 
having offended Q-od. 

Let him, then, who with all hia heart desires to 
obtain this precious jewel, know, that the most effica- 
cious of all means is, to beg it of God with a profound 
humility. True contrition is a particular favor, an 



78 THE MEMORIAL OF 

exrellent gift of God, and a work surpassing all the 
powers of nature, which is infected by original sin. 
Grod created it in righteousness, and this misery 
turned it aside. He created it wholly just and 
elevated to him ; but vice corrupted it, and made it 
turn back towards itself, that is, towards the love of 
visible goods, which it desires and esteems more than 
God. Thus, as there is no remedy in nature to 
recover a man born crooked and bowing towards the 
earth, so our will being born in this imperfection, 
there is none but God who is capable to reform it, 
and raise it up to him, by making it love him above 
all things : and as man cannot have this love without 
God's grace, so he cannot, without the particular as- 
sistance of his divine goodness, have a sorrow for sin, 
surpassing all things ; for the one is the consequence 
of the other. For this cause Jesus Christ says in the 
gospel, " No man can come to me unless my Father 
draw him ;" for to come to Jesus Christ is to love 
him above all things, and to have a sorrow for sin, 
exceeding all other, which none can have of himself: 
God only can give it. 

This grace is extraordinary, and when God grants 
it to a sinner, it is one of the greatest favors he 
bestows; for though it be more to give glory than 
grace, it. is, nevertheless, more difficult to draw a man 
out of sin, and place him in a state of grace, than to 
give him glory after grace has been given him ; the 
distance from sin to grace being undoubtedly far 
greater than that from grace to glory. And St. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 77 

Thomas, 1. 2. q. 113, art. 9, speaking of God's works, 
affirms, that the justification of a sinner is a greater 
work than the creation of the world ; because all the 
being of the world is but a finite and limited good,. 
as all created things are ; but the justification of man 
is a participation of Q-od's greatness and glory, which 
is an infinite good. 

If then this sorrow be so great a gift of God, it 
follows, that we must ask it of him with earnestness,, 
imitating the woman of Canaan in her perseverance ; 
*'Have mercy on me, Lord, thou Son of David: 
my daughter (that is^ my soul) is grievously troubled 
by a devil." Matt. xv. 23. But if God be at the 
beginning severe, as he was towards the Canaanite, 
be not discouraged nor cease to invoke him, for he 
used this conduct towards that woman, only to teach 
us not to lose confidence, but to persevere, as she did,, 
in prayer, even to the end. G^d is " faithful," says 
the apostle ; " he cannot deny himself." 2 Tim. ii. 13. 
And to assist you in so important a matter as this of 
prayer, we shall hereafter set down certain prayers, 
that those who know not yet how to speak to God of 
themselves, nor to represent to him their necessities, 
may make known their hearts to him, and beg this 
grace of him. 

The second means to acquire this grace is, that he 
who shall find himself touched by God, do choose a 
time and place fit for retirement, that retreating into 
himself, he may seriously meditate on all those things 
which may excite him to a sorrow for his sins. The 



78 THE MEMORIAL Of 

more attention and care he shall employ to consider 
the causes there are for it, the more clearly he will see 
the reasons that ought to incline him to bewail his 
misery; he will find how nature has, not without 
cause, ordained, that the same sense which serves a 
man to see, should serve him also to weep ; that the 
one is a consequence of the other ; that he who sees 
as he should, weeps in the same manner ; and that 
he who knows how to behold his sins as they ought 
to be beheld, will know how also to lament them as 
they ought to be lamented. Let the sinner then open 
his eyes to view his faults ; let him observe their 
multitude ; then let him consider the greatness of the 
God he has ofifended ; and by these two considerations 
lie will know the just causes he ha« to be afflicted. 



CHAPTER III. 

Considerations that may help a Penitent to conceive 
a horror of his Sins. First, of their MvUittide, 

SECTION I. 

To excite in your soul this lively sorrow, yon mnst 
at first set before your eyes the whole course of your 
life, and represent to your conscience all the sins with 
which you have so long a time defiled it, and all the 
ill uses you have made of so many graces received 
from God ; and l>ecause sin is a turning away from 
the sovereign good, and from the end for which m&D 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 79 

▼as created /consider attentively what this end is, and 
you will but too clearly see how far you have departed 
from it. The end for which Grod placed man in the 
world was not to plant gardens, to build houses, to 
heap up riches, nor yet to live in delights, as the lives 
and actions of the most part of men seem to persuade 
us; but to the end he .might know God, love him, 
keep his commandments, and by that means attain to 
the highest felicity, for which he was created. For 
this purpose he gave him a law which he is obliged 
to observe, grace to fulfil this law, sacraments which 
confer grace, doctors to teach him, and inspirations 
to draw him ; and that which is more, he has given 
also himself, to be the sovereign remedy of all our 
evils. For the same purpose he bestowed on him the 
gifts of nature, which are life, health, strength, the 
faculties of the soul, the senses and members of the 
body, to the end he might employ all these things in 
the service of him who gave them to him ; and, in fine, 
he plentifully furnished him with the necessaries (as 
they are usually called) of life, to the end he might 
make use of them to preserve his own life, to comfort 
his neighbors, and to help himself by them, as means 
afforded him for the meriting eternal glory. 

See now whether you have satisfied the intentions 
of your Creator : see how you have used all these 
benefits, and in what manner you have acquitted 
yourself of all these duties. If you at first look to 
the end for which he created you, and at the same 
time consider that which you have chosen, you will 



80 THE MEMOKIAL OP 

see how far you have strayed from that of God. He 
created you for himself, to the end you should employ 
your understandfng, your memory, and your will for 
him, and that you might place in him all your love 
and all your hope ; and you, on th« contrary, forget- 
ting these obligations, have, with an intolerable 
contempt, made use of all these benefits only to fix 
yourself to the world, and to give to the creature 
what is due to none but the Creator. You have 
loved the creature, you have adored it, you have 
placed your hope and your joy in it ; and thus you 
have given to created things what belongs to their 
and your Lord, and have placed on the earthly goods 
what you ought to have placed on the heavenly. You 
will, by this means, know how ill you have performed 
the first of God's commandments, which concern«« 
this duty ; you will see in what forgetfulness of God 
you have lived, since you have scarce thought on him 
all your life long ; you will perceive how ungrateful 
you have been for his benefits, since perhaps you have 
never so much as thanked him for them ; you will 
discern the little estimation you have made of hiF 
commands, since you have so often violated them ; 
that you have continually wanted love for him, who 
deserves it so much, giving still the far greatest 
share to worldly toys and trifles ; and, in fine, you will 
see how you have fallen into such blindness, that you 
have given all your affections to the miserable worms 
of the earth, not having due sentiments for this so 
excellent Majesty. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 81 

Represent also to yourself how often you have 
eworn, and even in vain, by his most holy and dread- 
ful name, having had nothing so ordinarily in your 
mouth to favor your obstinacy, and to confirm your 
lies. See in what manner you have sanctified the 
festivals ordained to praise God, and bewail your past 
ofibnces, since you have expected these days only to 
augment your crimes, and please the devils. Consid- 
er what honor you have given as well to your natural 
parents, as to your spiritual fathers^ who are your 
prelates and superiors, since you have slighted all 
their commands, and set all their laws at defiance ; 
what love you have had for your neighbor, whom you 
have so often injured, and whose death you have so 
frequently desired for matters of no value, and some 
insignificant punctilio of honor. See whether you 
have preserved your body and soul from all impurity, 
since you have so many times defiled yourself by 
your actions, by your words, by your thoughts, by 
your desires, by your voluntary complacencies, and 
have thus so often dared to profane the temple which 
God had sanctified for himself. Who can here explain 
the uncleanness and licentiousness of your looks, the 
impurities you have conceived in your heart, and 
those your mouth has daily uttered, the excess and 
pomp of your clothes, your walks, your dangerous 
conversations, and so many artifices as you made use 
of to do evil ? What shall I say of your covetousness 
and your injustice, since you have esteemed nothing 
so much as money, since you have made it your last 



82 THE MEMORIAL OP 

end, have adored it as your idol, and given it what 
is due to none but God alone ? Who can express the 
liberty you have given to your tongue, the obsceni- 
ties, the detractions, the flatteries, the lies, the curses, 
and the injuries, that have proceeded from it; since 
all your discourses, and all your ordinary conversa- 
tions have been nothing else? Having in this 
manner traced what you have committed against 
Grod's commandments, make an exact and serious 
reflection on the seven deadly sins, and see with 
sorrow the share you have in them. Examine what 
has been your ambition, your presumption, your pride, 
and how many ways you have made it appear both in 
your words and in your actions. Call to mind your 
wrath, your envy, your intemperance, and the delicacy 
with which you have pampered your body : reflect on 
your dullness and slowness to do good, and the readi- 
ness with which you have run after all things that 
are evil. Consider also in what manner you have 
performed the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, 
and how little you have been concerned at your 
neighbor's necessities, having taken so much care to 
provide for your own. 

And if there is no reasonable creature but ought 
to acknowledge in itself God's benefits, and make use 
of them according to his intentions, tell me to what 
use you have employed them? In what have you 
spent the life he has given you? How have you 
employed your wit, your strength, and the gifts of 
nature he has endowed you with? What have you 






A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 88 

done with all the wealth and riches he has bestowed 
on you r You cannot deny but you have employed 
them only in vanity, and offending Grod ; that of his 
own benefits you have made arms against him ; that 
you have taken occasion to commit the greatest sins, 
from those very things from which you were obliga- 
ted to do him the greatest services ; and that what 
ought to have been a powerful motive to make you 
love God above all things, has served you only to 
offend him with greater ingratitude. And, in fine, 
you will be forced to confess, that you have lived a3 
if you owed nothing to your God, as if you had re- 
ceived nothing of him, as if you had been your own 
creator, and had not any dependence on him. What 
is there then more reasonable, than that they who 
have eyes to behold these disorders, and understand- 
ing to comprehend how far they are strayed from 
the right way, should bitterly bewail their unhappi- 
ness, and that their eyes should melt in tears at the 
sight of so many evils? Those only are neither 
sensible of them, nor lament them, who ai^ so blind 
as not to see the dreadful ruin, to the brink of which 
they have brought their souls, and the loss of all 
these necessary means of their salvation. 

SECTION IL 
Second Consideration — On what is lost hy Sin. 

Having considered the number and quality of 
your sins, consider also what they have made yo^ 



84 THE MEMORIAL OF 

lose : you will thereby see how great that is wldch 
you have lost, and how often you have lost it. This 
motive will perhaps cause in you repentance and sor- 
row, which can never be advantageous to you but on 
this occasion. St. Chrysostom says, there is no loss 
reparable by tears, but that which is suffered by sin, 
and that they are never profitably employed but in 
bewailing it : make use, brethren, of this saving sor- 
row, and to incline your hearts the more seriously to 
it, consider, with all humility, what is lost by one 
mortal sin, and you will soon see that there is noth- 
ing which ought more sensibly to move you. 

Tho reasons of it are these : First, by one single 
mortal sin is lost the grace of the Holy Ghost, 
which is so excellent a gift, that God bestows no 
greater on any mortal creature in this life : there are 
lost also the charity and love of God, which are al- 
ways inseparable from this grace, and far more con- 
siderable than all the favors of earthly princes, which 
men with so much care endeavor to preserve : there 
are lost also infused virtues, and the gifts of the 
Holy Ghost, which adorn and beautify the soul in the 
sight of God, which arm and strengthen us against 
the assaults of the devil : though faith and hope are 
not always lost, yet there is lost the right to the in- 
heritance of heaven, which comes by this grace 
since it is grace that leads to glory : there is lost the 
gift of spiritual adoption, which makes us the chil- 
dren of God, gives us the heart and mind of children 
towards him; and losing this advantage, we become 



A CHRISTIAN LIFB. 85 

Binwortliy to be treated by him with a fatherly affec- 
tion, and renounce that singular and truly paternal 
providence he exercises over such as he takes into 
the number of his children: there is lost the peace 
and quiet given by a good conscience : there are lost 
the favors and comforts of the Holy Ghost: there is 
lost the fruit and merit of all the good works a man 
has done during his whole life till this unhappy hour, 
and with this all the share a man can pretend to in 
the riches and benefits of the whole church, which 
are not communicated to the sinner in such a manner 
as when he was in the state of grace. In fine, all 
these treasures are lost by one mortal sin ; and what 
a man gains by having committed it is, to see him- 
self condemned for ever to the torments of hell ; to 
be blotted out of the book of life ; instead of God's 
child, to become the deviFs slave; and of the temple 
of the most Holy Trinity, to become a den of 
thieves, and a retreat for serpents. 

But of all these losses, the most dreadful and af- 
flicting is the having lost Almighty God; for this 
loss is the root and cause of all the rest. Think on 
this, brethren, and know, that to lose God, is to 
cease having him for our father, our pastor, and our 
protector ; and, on the contrary, of a most merciful 
father, to render him a declared enemy, and a most 
severe judge. It is this unhappiness you ought to 
lament with tears of blood; and it was of such a 
one as this that the prophet Osee said, " Rejoice not, 

O Israel, as the nations do; for thou hast committed 
8 



86 THE MEMORIAL OF 

fornication against thy God." {Osee, ix. 1.) The 
host of the tribe of Dan inarching to the conquest 
of a city, some soldiers entered into a house, whence 
they took away an idol of silver : the master of the 
house, to whom it belonged, followed them weeping, 
and when these soldiers asked him the cause of his 
tears, he answered them, " You have taken away my 
gods, and do you say, what aileth thee?" (Judges, 
xviii. 24.) If this miserable man thought he had 
great reason to bewail the loss of his idol of metal, 
which was the work of his own hands, what ought a 
Christian to do, since he knows that every time he 
sins, he loses, not a false god, which himself has made, 
but the true God, by whom all things were made. 

This great good, and this chief of all goods, being 
lost by one sin, judge whether it is not fit for them 
heartily to lament, who have lost so precious a trea- 
sure, and see themselves fallen from so many privi- 
leges, and such a height of glory, into such an abyss 
of misery: what sorrow, and what confusion ought 
not to seize a soul that has thrown itself into so 
many calamities! "Open your eyes, miserable soul," 
Bays a holy Doctor, "and see what you were, and 
what you are ; where you were, and where you are : 
you were the spouse of the Most High, the temple 
of the living God, a chosen vessel of the eterna 
King the throne of the true Solomon, the seat of 
wisdom, the companion of angels, and an inheritrix 
of heaven : you had all these qualities, and as often 
as I say you had, you ought to mourn that you no 



CHRISTIAN LIFE. 87 

longer have them." Is there any thing more strong, 
or more opposite than this change? The spouse of 
God is found to be an adulteress with Satan ; the 
temple of the Holy Ghost is become a den of thieves ; 
the chosen vessel is changed into a vessel of corrup- 
tion ; the habitation of Jesus Christ, into a sty of 
unclean beasts ; the seat of God, into a chair of pesti- 
lence; the companion of angels has made herself 
the fellow of devils; and she who heretofore soared 
aloft, even to heaven, like a dove, creeps now on 
earth like a serpent. Bewail yourself then, misera- 
ble soul; mourn, since the heavens mourn over you, 
siuce the church deplores you, since all the sainte 
lament for you. St. Paul shed tears for you, be- 
cause you have sinned, and not done penance ; (2 Cor. 
xii. 21.) the prophets weep for you, because God's 
wrath is ready to break out against you; Jeremias 
sheds more tears for you than he did for the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, seeing the noble eity of Israel 
overthrown by the just wrath of heaven, and the 
daughter of Sion to have lost all her beauty. (Jer 
xxii. 10. and Lament,) 

SECTION III. 

Third Consideration — On the Majesty and Good- 
ness of God, against whom we sin. 

If you pass farther, and consider the greatness 
and goodness of God, against whom you sin, you wiD 
find in this motive far greater cause to be afflicted 



88 THE MEMORIAL OP 

It caunot be doubted but that the greater the persoD 
offended is, the more grievous also is the offence 
which is done unto him ; that if this person be of an 
infinite merit, and an infinite dignity, the offence 
committed against him will be also of the same 
nature, and consequently of an infinite greatness. 
Thus the farther you shall penetrate into the immen- 
sity of Grod, the more you will discover the malice 
and enormity of sin. Lift up, then, your eyes od 
high, and see, if you can, the exceeding Majesty of 
God ; behold his riches, his dignity, his wisdom, his 
beauty, his glory, his goodness, his benignity, his 
power, and the obligations in which all creatures are 
bound to him ; and you will thereby, in some sort, 
comprehend how great a crime it is to have offended 
him. 

But among all the grandeurs of Almighty God, 
that which for the most part touches true penitents 
is his goodness, particularly when it is considered and 
meditated on. There are many things that make it 
known, but there is nothing in which it so visibly 
shows itself as in the incarnation and passion of the 
Son of God, and the institution of the Holy Sacra- 
ment, in which he daily offers himself for us, commu- 
nicates himself to us, and makes his abode in us. Of 
this divine goodness, we also, often enough, perceive 
particular marks; we carry in ourselves pledges of 
it, and certain assurances in the favorable entertain- 
ments it sometimes pleases to afford the elect ; it often 
nsits^ them with such extraordinary favors, with so 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 89 

much spiritual light and joy, that human weakness 
cannot support them. We find it recorded, that an 
ancient father of the desert, being at prayer, said, 
" Lord, stop a little the torrent of thy consolatians ;" 
and at another time, "Draw back from me, O Lord, 
for it is impossible for me to support the excess of 
thy sweetness." St. John dim. Grad. 25. These 
are the effects of God's grace, the favors which the 
devout are wont to receive from so infinite a great- 
ness, from so extreme a goodness, from so immense a 
sweetness, and from so infinite a mercy ; and after all 
it is no wonder that this Divine Bounty, who so 
willingly drank for us the bitter cup of his passion, 
should make us taste, with so much sweetness, that 
of his consolations. 

Has not he then who attentively considers this 
wonderful goodness, and at the same time remembers 
his having so often offended it, just reason, day and 
night, to bewail his offences? St. John Climachus 
relates, {Grad. 4 & 5,) that one of the monks, whose 
actions he describes, having committed a fault, asked 
leave of his superior to enter into the house of peni- 
tents, which they called the Prison, and that the 
superior having granted it, though with reluctance, 
because it was but a light offence and very pardonable, 
this good brother felt in his soul so sharp a sorrow 
for having sinned against the divine Majesty, that in 
eight days, his heart being mortally pierced with 
grief and love together, he gave up his soul to God. 
See, sinners, how great this sorrow must have beea, 
8* 



QO THE MEMORIAL OF 

which eould in a short time deprive him that felt it 
of his life. In this manner does the regret for sin 
afflict those whose eyes God opens to see the greatness 
of its malice ; and if this holy penitent was so sensibly 
touched for one only sin, committed perhaps without 
reflecting on what he did, how great ought to be 
their sorrow who have employed their whole life only 
in sinning and multiplying their offences. 

SECTION IV. 

Fourth Consideratwn — On the Injury done to God 

by Sin. 

Besides what we have already said, consider the 
extreme injury sin does to God, and you will see the 
just cause you have to grieve for it : for as often as 
you sin you exercise in your heart a sort of judgment, 
though you perceive it not ; on the one side you set 
before you the benefit of sin, which is the pleasure 
you expect to receive by it ; on the other, you con- 
sider the offence you commit against God, which 
makes you lose his friendship. Thus you put in the 
balance God and your pleasure; and you resolve 
without fear to lose rather the favor of Almighty 
God than this miserable pleasure. 

Can any thing be imagined more horrible, or can 
any greater affront to the divine Majesty be invented 
than to prefer so base and vile a thing before him V 
This is to imitate the madness of the Jews, who being 
offered their choice of Jesus or Barabbas, answered. 



A CHEISTIAN LIFE, 91 

they would rather have that robber than Jesus Christ 
It is, as much as lies in us, to take from God the 
glory due to him, as to our last end, and give it to 
our interest and our pleasures. For to set a higher 
esteem on a fleeting pleasure than on God, and prefer 
it before him, is undoubtedly, as much as is in our 
power, to take the empire from the Creator, and give 
it to the creature ; and this is so strange a case, that 
God commands the heavens to be amazed at it, say- 
ing by the prophet Jeremias, (Jer. ii. 12, 13,) " Be 
astonished, ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof 
be very desolate ; for my people have done two evils. 
They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, 
and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken eie- 
terns, that can hold no water." 

Consider, then, how often you have done this injury 
to God, and tremble for fear ; let your eyes become 
fountains, to bewail day and night so great a disorder ; 
see against whom you have sinned ; and for what you 
have sinned ; what you have left, and what you have 
chosen; what you have lost, and what you have 
gained. Be ashamed now of yourself while it is yet 
time, and stay not till you are covered for ever with 
oonfiigion in the dreadful day of our Lord's judgment. 

SECTION V. 
Fifth (7onsiderattoii — On the hatred God bears to >SVn- 

You will receive, also, no small assistance for the 
ae<iuiring this holj sorrow, with a strong hatred 



92 TIIB MEMORIAL OF 

against sm, if you consider attentively that which 
God bears to it. This hatred is so great that none 
can comprehend it ; and if all the created understand- 
ings were united in one, it would not be able to 
comprehend it ; for the better a thing is, the more it 
loves goodness, and the more it hates wickedness. 
Now, since it is true that God is not only good, but 
infinitely good, it thence follows, that he has an 
infinite love for good, and an infinite hatred to evil ; 
and thus he recompenses the one with eternal glory^ 
and punishes the other with eternal torments, and 
the privation of an infinite good. Tt is also certain,, 
that God hates sin as much as it deserves to be hated ; 
that is, proportionably to the deformity which is ii> 
Bin: now, since this deformity is infinite, as being 
against a God of infinite majesty, it follows, that the 
hatred God beai*s it is infinite. 

These reasons are strong, but since examples are 
more sensible and feeling, to the end you may the 
better comprehend the quality of this hatred, I will 
set before your eyes some of those great punishments 
with which God has in this world chastised sin. The 
heart is known by the works ; and by the penalties 
God has inflicted on sinners, you will conceive the 
aversion he has for sin. His power has formed 
nothing so agreeable to his eyes as that fair angel 
and his companions, whom he had created to praise 
him ; but for one only sin, the highest creature became 
the most abominable, and that which he loved most 
vas the first object of his wrath. Can one^ without 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 93 

frembling, call to mind the puuishmeiit of the firs^ 
man and all his posterity ? that which God laid on 
the whole world by the waters of the deluge? those 
five great towns mentioned in the holy Scripture, 
which he consumed by fire from heaven? the rigor 
of his justice and judgments^ which he made appear 
in punishing the adultery of David ? the disobedience 
of Saul ? the indulgence of Heli towards his children ? 
the covetousness of Ananias and Sapphira ? and the 
pride of Nebuchodonosor ? and, in fine, the greatness 
and eternity of hell-torments, which were created 
only to punish sin ? But what shall we say of the 
pains suffered by the Son of God made man ? of that 
rigorous chastisement which the Eternal Father 
inflicted even on his own Son? This example is 
beyond all others, and ought to cause much more 
fear than those we have represented, seeing the 
infinite dignity of the person on whom this punish- 
ment fell, for the redemption of man. 

Consider them, then, every one in particular, and 
in all their circumstances, and be assured, you will 
draw from them a wonderful advantage, by the know- 
ledge they will give you of the dreadful rigor of 
God's justice, and the perfect hatred he has against 
sin. This is the means to excite in your heart the 
true fear of God, and sorrow for your offences ; for 
you should hate them, were it possible, as much as 
God himself abhors them. I know it is difficult for 
you to raise the greatness of this sorrow to the pitch 
it ^ ought to be; but detest at least your crimes as 



94 THE MEMORIAL OF 

much as you can, and cease not to beg of God that 
he would increase your sorrow for having offended 
him ; for in this consists the best part of true penance 
and Christian justice. 

SECTION VI. 

Sixth Consideration — On Death, and the things 
that follow it. 

It is also very reasonable that the calling to mird 
the pains of hell, the universal judgment, and the 
judgment at the day of our death, should move us to 
fear and sorrow for our sins, since each of thesa 
things threatens with so great miseries those who 
shall be found guilty ; and that they are so much 
nearer to us, as there is none but ought to look on 
the remainder of his life as very short. Think, then, 
seriously on it, and consider what you will do, what 
you will say, when this time shall come, which un- 
doubtedly is not far off. It is then that all those who 
shall have lived wickedly may say with ^ruth, my 
soul, the hour is now come that must put an end to 
thy pride, to thy vanity, to thy follies, and to thy 
filthy pleasures, which thou hast loved more than 
God, and to which thou hast paid more obedience 
than to God, since thou hast so often for their sakee 
offended him. Pride and vanity, where are you 
now? Delights and pleasures, what is become of 
you ? What have you given me, and what have you 
left in my hands, after so many years that I have 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 95 

eerved you? I have preferred you before eternal 
life ; for you I have lost heaven and gained hell ; 1 
have lost infinite benefits, and deserved to become 
for ever a companion of devils. What, I say, ha'^'* 
you left me for being so faithful to you, and having, 
for your sakes committed so many evils? If you 
must, then, fall into this miserable condition ; if your 
Heart must be pierced with all those thorns, and your 
conscience stung with so much remorse, and perhaps 
m vain, why do you not now make your soul sensibly 
feel them, when you may do it with profit ? Why 
do you not pronounce a just condemnation against 
yourselves in this life, that you may not in the next 
be judged by Almighty God according to the severity 
of his justice ? 

SECTION YII. 
Seventh Consideration — On God^s Benefits. 

But there will be nothing more available for the 
increasing of this sorrow than to meditate thoroughly 
on the greatness and number of God's benefits; for 
the more you shall consider how good God has been 
to you, the more confusion you will receive for having 
been so ungrateful to him. It was by this means the 
prophets often endeavored to excite in God's people 
a sorrow for their ofiences ; and it was by this con- 
sideration the prophet Nathan began to aggravate 
the heinousness of David's sin, having, before he 
reprehended him for his adultery, reminded him of 



\)6 THE MEMORIAL OF 

all the benefits and favors he had received of Al- 
mighty God. 

To make use now of the same remedy, call dili- 
gently to mind whatever God's goodness has done 
for you. Remember that it is he who has created 
you, who has kept you, who has redeemed you ; that 
by his grace you have been baptized, you have been 
called, you have received good inspirations, you have 
been preserved from many evils, and have, in fine, 
had a multitude of benefits bestowed on you. If you 
weigh these things in a just balance, you will find, 
that whatsoever the heavens include, and whatsoever 
the earth contains, are benefits proceeding from him ; 
that all the members and senses which compose your 
body are so many of his gifts ; that all the moments 
you breathe are so many favors you receive from his 
hand ; that the bread you eat, the earth you walk on, 
the sun which lights you, the heavens which encom- 
pass you, and whatever serves for the entertainment 
of your life, are preseats that he makes you ; and, in 
fine, to comprehend all in one word, all the good in 
the world are his benefits, since he created all this 
good for you, and has preserved you from the great- 
est of evils, that is, dying in your sins; it being 
certain, that no misery is sufiered by one man which 
another may not undergo. 

Is there any thing, then, you ought to be more 
sensible of than your having lived in such a forget- 
fulness of God, who has carried you, as it were, in 
his arms ; whose goodness has given you subsistence, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 97 

whose spirit has given you life, whose sun has warmed 
you, whose providence has protected you ; and finally, 
in whom, and by whom, you live, move, and have 
your being? Can there be any greater crime than 
to have persevered so long in offending that God, who, 
even during all your disorders, never ceased to do 
you good? or any greater blindness than the having 
returned for so many favors such base ingratitude ? 
But, moreover, can any malice go higher than the 
despising a God who, having clothed himself with a 
body, made for you so many journeys^ sustained so 
many fasts, shed for you so many tears, offered so 
many prayers, suffered so many injuries, underwent 
60 many labors, received so many affronts, and bore 
such insupportable sorrows ? It is certain that sins 
brought all these miseries upon him ; that he accept- 
ed them, and would bear them, partly to satisfy for 
them, and partly, to show us how much he hates 
them, since he did so much to destroy them. Thus 
you see what cause you have to melt into tears, when 
you reflect how often, by your sins, you have afresh 
buffetted, scourged, and crucified your Saviour, who 
endured all this for you. Consider, on the one side, 
that invincible patience and prodigious mercy of 
God towards you, and on the other your ingratitude 
towards him ; and being plunged into a sea of sor- 
row, say to him the following words : 
9 



98 THE MEMORIAL OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

^4 Prayer, to stir up in the Soul Compunctiim, ani 
Sorrow for her Sins, 

Thou only begotten Son of God, such are the 
benefits I have received from thee, that I want words 
to express them. Thou hast drawn me out of the 
dust and mire of the earth ; thou hast of nothing 
created my soul, made after thy image^ and capable 
of thy glory; thou hast given me understanding, 
memory, will, free choice, with all the parts of my 
body, and all the senses belonging to it, to the end 
I might make use of them to know and love thee. 
Thou hast borne with me even to this hour after so 
many sins^ whereas so many others, less criminal than 
I, suffer now perhaps the pains of hell, because thou 
hast not borne them with the same patience. Not 
content with these mercies, thou wouldst for my sake 
be made man, and converse with men ; for me thou 
wouldst feel the sharpest agony and sorrow; thou 
wouldst be bathed in a bloody sweaty be taken, bound, 
buffetted, spit upon, insulted, despised, blasphemed^ 
and sometimes, in mockery, clothed with a red,, 
sometimes wifch a white garment ; for me thou wouldst 
be torn with whips, crowned with thorns,, beaten with 
a reed, be condemned as a criminal, bear a cross on 
thy shoulders to the place of thy punishment, and be 
there fastened to it with nails ; in this infamous place 
thou wouldst be set between two thieves^ as if tho» 



A CffMSTIAN LIFE. 99 

hadst been one of the wicked ; wouldst have for the 
easing of thy thirst, only vinegar and gall; and, in 
fine, wouldst lose thy life in that deplorable condition. 

In this manner, my Lord, and with suffering 
such cruel torments, didst thou vouchsafe to redeem 
me ; and yet I, who am but a worm of the earth, a 
miserable sinner, have dared to give thee as many 
buffets, and crucify thee afresh, as many times as I 
have committed mortal sins ; which ought to make 
all creatures with justice rise up against me, to 
revenge the injuries of their Creator. 

But how can I sufficiently accuse myself of the ill 
use I have made of thy sacraments, these sacred 
remedies, which thou with thy own blood preparest 
for me? Thou hast washed me, and received me to 
be thine, in the waters of baptism ; herein thou hast 
adopted me to be one of thy children; thou hast 
consecrated me as thy temple; thou hast anointed 
me as a king, as a priest, and as a soldier, that ought 
continually to fight against thy enemy. In this 
sacrament thou hast chosen my soul for thy spouse, 
and adorned it with all the ornaments befitting so 
high a dignity. What have I done with all this 
wealth thou bestowest on me, and what use have I 
made of all these benefits? Thou madest me thy 
son, and I have made myself the slave of sin ; thou 
formedst me to be thy temple, and I have made my- 
self an habitation for devils ; thou listedst me for on^ 
of thy soldiers, and I have run over to thy enemy's 
•ide; thou espousedst my soul, on condition I should 



100 THE MEMORIAL OF 

bear thee an endless love, and I have loved vanity 
more than truth, and the creature more than the 
Creator. 

It were fit, my Lord^ that finding myself guilty 
of so many crimes, I should have begun to lament ; 
this is a tribute I owe thee, and which thou hast 
almost as long a time expected of me, as has past 
since thou gavest me life to incline me to it ; thou 
hast so often called me, and so long borne with me; 
thou hast sometimes stirred me up to it by thy pun- 
ishments, but often invited me by thy favors, and 
has left no means untried to draw me to thee. When 
thou waitedst for me, I abused thy patience ; whea 
thou calledst me, I was deaf to thy voice ; thou gavest 
me time to do penance, and I employed it to confirm 
myself in my pride ; thou struckest me, and I felt it 
not; thou afflictest me, and I made not the use I 
ought to do of thy chastisements : thou hast takeu 
great pains to purify me, and, with all thy labor, 
even fire was not able to cleanse my filth, nor scour 
away the rust of my vices. I equally hardened my- 
self against thy punishments and thy favors, showing 
on the one side my stubbornness, and on the other, 
my ingratitude. But in fine, Lord, since thou 
hast done so many things for me, and commandest 
us never to lose confidence in thy goodness, I wholly 
refer myself to thy mercy, and most humbly beg of 
thee grace to lead a new life, that I may henceforth 
in such manner please and serve thee, that I may 
Qever hereafter be separated from thee. Ame7i. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. lOl 

CHAPTER V. 

Another Prayer, to heg Pardon for our Sins, 

O Sovereign Creator of all things, when I re- 
volve in my mind how much, by my sins, I have 
offended thee, I wonder at my folly, seeing that I 
have forsaken so good a Father ; I accuse my ingrati- 
tude, and perceiving, that from so noble a liberty 
as I enjoyed, I am fallen into so miserable a slavery, 
I condemn my imprudence, and can set nothing 
before my eyes but hell and judgment, in the dread 
I have of thy justice, from which I cannot escape. 
But if, on the contrary, I consider thy great mercy, 
which according to the testimony of thy prophet, 
exceeds all thy works, (^Psal. cxliv.) then does a 
pleasing breeze of hope come to refresh me, and 
bring strength and comfort to my soul ; for how can 
I despair to obtain pardon of him who has so often, 
by the mouth of his prophets, invited sinners to do 
penance, saying, " I desire not the death of the wicked, 
but that the wicked turn from his way, and live." 
Ezech. xxxiii. 11. Moreover, what expressions has 
not thy Son used, and what comparison has he not 
employed, to let us see that thou art always ready to 
pardon those who are truly penitent ? This he sig- 
nified to us by that precious stone, which was lost 
and found again ; and by the strayed sheep, that the 
sh^'pherd brought home on his shoulders. Matt. 
xviii. 12, Ac. But much more expressly did he set 
9* 



102 TaE MEMORIAL OP 

it forth in the parable of the prodigal chUd, {Ltike 
XV. 11, &c.) whose image I manifestly bear; for I 
auj, in effect, that son, who with so little reason went 
away from a father who so tenderly loved ; who have 
so unfortunately squandered away my estate ; who, 
instead of submitting to thy sweet yoke, have unwor- 
thily subjected myself to the law of my passions; who 
am, by this means, fallen into the intolerable bondage 
of sin, whence there is no way for me to get out, but 
by him whom I have forsaken and offended. 

Let thy mercy, then, Lord, receive this wretch, 
who begs thy pardon, and whom thou hast with so 
much patience borne with, even to this hour. I am 
not worthy to lift up my eyes towards thee, or to call 
thee my Father, but thou hast goodness enough to 
look down upon me, because thou truly art a Father. 
It is this look alone that raises the dead ; it is this 
look that causes those that are lost, to return to 
themselves; and I am very certain, it would have 
been impossible for me to have the sorrow I now feel, 
if thou hadst not beheld me, when I had miserably 
lost myself by straying from thee : thou, from the 
height of heaven, lookedst down upon me, and 
openedst my eyes, that I might see myself, and know 
the evils of which I was full ; now thou comest before 
me, putting me in mind what it is to have lost inno- 
cence. I desire not thy paternal kiss, of which I am 
unworthy; I request not the rich garments with 
which I was wont to be clad, nor the ring that showed 
my dignity; I ask thee not to receive me as thy 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 103 

fihild : it will be an exceeding happiness for me, if 
fchou please to take me into the number of thy slaves, 
if thou brandest me with thy iron, and bindest me 
with thy chains, that I may no more fly from thee ; 
it shall never grieve me to pass my life in thy house 
as one of the least of thy servants, provided I masy 
never be separated from thee. Hear me, then, 
Father of mercies ; grant me some share in the favor 
of thy only Son, and make me feel the remedy of 
bis death. Give me thy spirit to purify my heart, 
and strengthen it in thy love, that I may no more 
return into this deplorable banishment, out of which 
I have been recalled by thy goodness, who livest and 
reignest world without end. Amen. 

Another Prayer, to heg Pardon of owr Sins. 

[If you desire to obtain true Contrition, and consequently the 
Remission of your Sins, I advise you for some days to read 
this Prayer with the greatest attention you can : you will see 
therein, how exceedingly you are obliged to Almighty God, 
and how great your Repentance ought to be for having offended 
his divine Majesty.] 

Who will give water to my head, and fountains 
of tears to my eyes, that I may both night and day 
bewail my sins, and my ingratitude to Almighty God ? 
There are many things, my Lord, which may 
bring sinners to the knowledge of their sins; but I 
find nothing so efficacious as to consider the greatness 
of thy goodness, and the multitude of thy benefits, 
evep towards sinners themselves. Wherefore, to the 



104 THE MEMORIAL OF 

end my soul may by this means accuse and confound 
herself, I| will relate some part of thy benefits, and 
some part of my wickedness, that it may by this 
comparison more clearly appear, what thou art, and 
what I am ; what thou hast been towards me, and 
what I have been towards thee. 

There was a time when I was not; thou gavest 
me being, thou drewest me out of the dust of the 
earth, and madest me after thy image. " From my 
mother's womb thou art my God," (Fsal. xxi. 11.) 
since from the beginning of my creation even to this 
very hour thou hast been my Father, my Saviour, 
my Protector, and all my good. Thou formest my 
body with all its senses, thou createdst my soul with 
all her powers, and thou hast, even to this day, 
preserved my life by a particular benefit of thy provi- 
dence. Thou camest down from heaven to earth; 
thou soughtest me in the ways wherein I had lost 
myself; thou enablest my nature, by taking my 
humanity; thou deliverest me from captivity, by 
making thyself a prisoner ; thou rescuedst me out of 
the power of the devil, by putting thyself into the 
hands of sinners ; and thou destroyedst my sin, by 
clothing thyself with the similitude of a sinner. 
Thou wouldst oblige me by this grace, fill me with 
love by this benefit, strengthen my hope by these 
merits, and cause in me a horror of sin, by showing 
me what thou didst to destroy it. Thou threwest 
burning coals on the dead coals of my heart, that by 
the great number of flavors included in this one 



A CURISTIAN LIFE. 105 

benefit, I might, in fine, love him who has done so 
much for me, and shown me so much love. * 

Thus, Lord, wast thou pleased to redeem me; 
hut what would it have availed me to be redeemed if 
I had not been baptized ? Amongst so many infidels, 
of which the whole world is full, thou wast pleased 
to make me one of thy faithful, and put me in the 
number of those whose happiness is so great, as to 
become thy children when they are regenerated in 
the waters of baptism. There was I received to be 
thine ; there was that wonderful alliance made, that 
thou shouldst be my God, and I should be thy ser- 
vant ; that thou shouldst be my Father, and I should 
be thy child; that as thou wouldst never cease 
exercising the care of a Father over me, I should 
also, during my whole life, pay thee the respects and 
obedience of a child. All this was done in baptism, 
not to mention the other sacraments which thou hast 
instituted as a remedy for my miseries, not being 
willing to apply any other medicine to my wounds 
but thine own precious blood. 

In the mean time my malice has been so great, 
that, notwithstanding all this assistance, I have lost 
this first grace of innocence; and thy mercy has 
been so abundant, that thou hast to this very hour 
forborne me. my only hope, and sole refuge, how 
can I without tears call to mind how often, during 
this so ill-employed time, death might have surprised 
me ? and yet I was preserved ! How many thousand 
souls are now perhaps burning in hell for less offences 



106 THE MEMORIAL OF 

thau I have committed! what would have become 
of me, if thou hadst then taken me hence, as thou 
didst so many others ? What judgment ought I not 
to have expected, if death had seized me when thy 
justice had found me in the very action that made me 
criminal! Who tied its hands at that moment? 
Who spoke to thee for me when T was asleep? 
Who stayed thy indignation, and my punishment, at 
such a time as I provoked the one, and deserved the 
other? What didst thou see in me that rendered 
me more considerable to thy eyes than so many oth-er 
sinners, whom death took away in the midst of the 
sins and follies of their youth ? My sins lifted up 
their voice against me, and thou seemedst not to 
hear them; my malice increased, every day against 
thee, and thou daily prolongedst the term of thy 
mercy. I daily sinned, and thou daily expectedst; 
I fled, and thou soughtest me ; I was almost wearied 
and tired with ofiending thee, and thou wast not 
weary of bearing with me : and as if my sins had 
been services, and not offences, in the midst of ray 
greatest disorders I received from thee many good 
inspirations and paternal corrections, which condemn- 
ed them on purpose only to make me return to my 
duty. How frequently didst thou call me? How 
often didst thou make me hear thy voice in the 
bottom of my heart, saying to me, " Thou hast pros- 
tituted thyself to many lovers; nevertheless return 
to me, and I will receive thee." Jer. iii. 1. Thou 
inducedst me with words of love, and terrified st ^e 



k CHRISTIAN LIF». 107 

with wholesome fears and threats, putting me in 
mind of the dangers of death and the rigor of thj 
justice. How many preachers hast thou sent to stir 
me up by their word ? how many confessors to assist 
me by their counsel ? How often, not only by words, 
but by works, hast thou pursued me, endeavoring 
(as a hunter who follows his game) to prevent me, 
sometimes by benefits, sometimes by punishments, 
that I might not escape from thee ? 

"What shall I render to the Lord, for all the 
things he has rendered to me?" Psal. cxv. 12, I 
owe thee all that I am, because thou alone hast crea- 
ted me : I am indebted to thee for all my being and 
life, because it is thou alone that preservest me. But 
what can I give thee for having given thyself for 
me ? If I had all the lives of men and angels, and 
should offer them up all in sacrifice fco thee, what 
would all this be towards the recompensing one of 
these drops of blood which thou hast shed for my 
salvation? Who will then give tears to my eyes, 
that I may bewail my wretchedness and blindness, 
which have hindered me from acknowledging so many 
benefits ? Help me now^ Lord, and give me thy 
grace, to the end I may accuse myself, and " confess 
my injustice to thee.'^' Psal. xxxi. 5. How unhappy 
soever I am, I am nevertheless thy creature, made 
after thy image ; acknowledge, Lord, this figure, 
which is thine ; remove not from me, and thou wilt 
find what thine own hand has made. I confess I 
hav^ employed all my forces to offend thee, and made 



108 THE MEMORIAL OF 

use of the work of thine own hands against thee; 
my feet have run after iniquity, my hands have been 
opened to eovetousness, my eyes have been gazing 
after nothing but vanity, and my ears always atten- 
tive to hearken after lies. That most noble part of 
my soul which had eyes to see, has turned them away 
from beholding thy beauty, and fixed them only on 
that fading lustre which accompanies this miserable 
life ; that which should have been continually me- 
ditating on thy law and thy commandments, has 
been busied day and night in nothing else but seek- 
ing opportunities to break them. And if this has 
been the employment of my understanding, what is 
to be thought of my will? Thou offeredst it the 
delights of heaven ; it has changed heaven for earth, 
and opened the heart which thou hadst consecrated 
for thyself to the love of creatures. This has been, 
Lord, my acknowledgment of thy benefits, and 
this is the fruit that the senses which thou hast 
created have brought forth ; what then can I answer, 
when entering into judgment with me, thou shalt say 
to me: "1 planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true 
seed ; how then art thou turned unto me into that 
which is good for nothing?" Jer, ii. 21. Imi. v. 2. 
If thy reproaching me with what thou didst for 
me when thou createst me, is sufiScient to strike me 
dumb, what shall I be able to answer when thou 
shalt represent to me the care thou hast taken to 
preserve me ? Thou hast preserved, Lord, by thy 
adorable providence, him who has made it his whole 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 109 

study to contemn thy law, to persecute thy servants, 
to scandalize thy church, and to fortify the kingdom 
of sin against thee. Thou hast moved the tongue 
that blasphemed thee; thou hast governed the mem- 
bers that oflPended thee ; and thou has maintained him 
who, at thy cost, served thy enemies. For I have 
not only repaid thy benefits with ingratitude, but 
have of those very benefits made arms to fight against 
thee ; thou hast appointed all creatures to serve me ; 
I have made use of them only to offend thee ; I have 
lyved the gifts more than the giver ; the lustre I saw 
in them blinded me. I kept my eyes and mind 
fixed to that, whereas their beauty should have served 
only as a means to raise me to the knowledge of thine, 
and to make me comprehend how the Creator must 
be incomparably fairer than his creature. Thou hast 
given me all things necessary, that I might give 
myself to thee; I have appropriated them to myself, 
and have never rendered thee either the glory or the 
tribute that I ought : they have been perfectly obe- 
dient to thee, doing me all the services which thou 
hast prescribed them ; and I, for my part, have always 
offended him, by whose order all things set themselves 
to serve me : thou gavest me health, and I employed 
it againstjthee ; thou gavest me strength, and I used 
it for thy enemy. 

What shall I yet say of another of my ingratitudes ? 
I have seen all the labors and miseries with which 
other men are afflicted ; yet they have not been suffi- 
cient to make me understand that all these calamities 
10 



110 THE MEMORIAL OF 

which befell others, were so many benefits to me 
since thou hadst the goodness to preserve me from 
them. Owe we not an acknowledgment to the least 
of men that has done us good ? And art thou, O 
my God, only he whose favors it is lawful to forget ? 
If benefits have heretofore tamed the fierceness of 
lions and serpents, how comes it that thine have not 
so far won my heart as to oblige me to say with the 
prophet : " Let us fear the Lord our God, who gi veth 
us the early and the latter rain in due season ; who 
preserveth for us the fulness of the yearly harvest." 
Jer, V. 24. 

Thy bearing, O Lord, with such a one as 1 am, 
was sufficient to show what thou art; nor was it 
necessary to give me any further testimonies of thy 
goodness : and if thou may est with justice require 
from me a strict account of these things, thou may est 
with more rigor exact one from me of those, which 
made thee so liberally shed thy blood. 1 have 
thwarted all thy purposes, and, as much as lay in me, 
rendered useless all the mystery of thy incarnation. 
Thou madest thyself man to make me in a manner 
participate of thy nature; andl, througha disorderly 
love of mine own vileness, have ranked myselfamong 
beasts, and made myself a child of the devil ; thou 
earnest down to earth to raise me to heaveij,andns 
1 merited not that favor, sol minded it not, taking 
more pleasure to continue wallowing in my filth and 
mire ; thou didst set me at liberty, and I have of 
myself returned into bondage : thou gavest me life, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. Ill 

and I have given myself death ; thou madest me one 
of thy members, and I made myself a member of the 
devil. Neither did so many benefits suffice to make 
me know thee ; nor so many extraordinary marks of 
thy love, to make me love thee; nor so many obliga- 
tions, to make me hope in thee ; nor so rigorous a 
justice borne by thyself to make me fear thee. Thou 
humblest thyself even to the dust of the earth ; and 
my pride was never in the least abated ; thou stoodest 
naked on the cross ; and the world suffices not my 
covetousness : thou, who art a God, sufferedst thyself 
to be buffeted; and I, who am but a worm of the 
earth, cannot endure so much as the hem of my gar- 
ment to be touched. 

But T am yet constrained, to my confusion, to 
observe the utmost point at which my ingratitude 
and malice could arrive : the mercy and love it pleased 
thee to exercise towards me were so exceeding, that 
thou wouldst die thyself to make sin die in me ; and 
I have presumed to ofiend thee on the confidence I 
had in this mercy. What greater impiety than this 
can be committed ? I have taken occasion from thy 
goodness to persevere in my wickedness; the very 
same means thou madest use of to destroy sin has 
been to me a motive of sinning ; thus have I frustra- 
ted thy designs, mocked thy counsels, and made all 
thy bounties serve to execute the inventions of my 
malice : because thou art so good, I imagined that I 
might be wicked; and because thou hadst already 
bestowed on me so many benefits, I concluded that 1 



112 THE MEMORIAL OF 

might commit against thee great offences. By so 
detestable a conclusion I fell into this error, to lehold 
the remedy thou ordainest against sin, as an encour- 
agement to sin with more liberty, and to employ 
those arms to destroy my own life, which thou gavest 
me to fight against my enemies. In fine, thou wouldst 
die, to render thyself the Lord of the living and the 
dead, and to the end " that they also, who live, may 
not now live to themselves, but unto him who died 
for them, and rose again ;'' (2 Cor. v. 15,) and I, like 
a true child of Jezabel, have taken occasion from thy 
death to rob thee of thy goods ; I have run away from 
thy service, and made myself a slave to thy enemy. 
What punishment does not such a crime deserve? 
If dogs devoured the flesh of this queen for such a 
sin, how comes it that my body is yet whole ? 4 Kings 
ix. And if the apostle forms a strong argument to 
demonstrate the malice of man's heart, from its taking 
occasion of the law, to break the law, is it not a far 
greater wickedness to take occasion of grace to over- 
throw the same grace? Rom. vii. 13, &c. Lord, 
1 adore thy patience, in sufiering thyself to be buffeted 
by the hands of sinners ; but there is much more cause 
to wonder at thy bearing with me, and such other 
sinners as I am. 

But what appearance of hope is there that this 
patience is not tired ? I see what thou sayest in thy 
prophets: "I have always held my peace, I have 
kept silence, I have been patient ; I will speak now 
as a woman in labor." hai, xlii. 14. I know that 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 118 

the earth which brings not forth fruit, after it has 
been watered by the rain, is cursed; and that the 
vineyard which, after it has been carefully cultivated ^ 
instead of good grapes, brings forth only such as are 
sour and wild, is destroyed and laid waste by thy 
command. How then^ sinner, who mayest be com- 
pared to a dry and withered branch, didst thou not 
fear the terrible voice of that husbandman, who cut* 
off from the vine the fruitless sprigs, and casts them' 
into the fire? Where was my prudence not t© 
apprehend so formidable a judgment ? Where were 
my ears that they heard not these words ? And what 
dead sleep was I in that I awoke not at the thundering 
of these threats ? I placed all my content in continu- 
ing on the earth : I loved an abode so unworthy the 
soul which God has given me, and I made it my 
delight to be among the thorns; I was burned with 
the fire of my passions : I was stung with the points 
of my desires ; I was torn in pieces by the distraction^ 
of my thoughts ; I felt the continual gnawings of the 
worm of my conscience : and in this miserable con- 
dition I foolishly thought myself at rest ; I imagined! 
that I enjoyed peace in the midst of this cruel war,, 
and perceived not that I was a senseless fool in not 
knowing myself, and a rebel in departing from thy 
service. 

What, then, my God, will become of me ? Aias ! 
what must I do ? I truly know that I deserve not to 
appear before thee, or to lift up my eyes to behold 

thee : but whither shall I go ? whei« oan; I hidt 
10* 



114 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Qiyself from thee ? Art not thou my father, and the 
Father of Mercies ? Thus, though I have ceased to 
act as a child, thou hast not left off to treat me as a 
father ; and though I have committed all that can 
contribute to my condemnation, thou hast still in 
thee all that is requisite for my salvation. I can then 
do nothing but throw myself at thy feet, and humbly 
beg thy mercy ; I can call upon none but thee ; from 
none but thee can I expect relief; for it is thou who 
hast created me, hast formed me, hast redeemed me, 
and hast preserved me ; thou art my king, my pastor, 
my priest, and sacrifice ; and thus, Lord, if thou 
puttest me away, who will receive me ? if thou forsak- 
est me, who will protect me ? Acknowledge, Lord, 
this strayed sheep, which returns to thee: if I am 
wounded, thou canst heal me ; if I am blind, thou 
canst give me sight ; nay, were I dead, thou canst 
raise me again ; and if I am filthy, thou canst cleanse 
me : " Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I 
shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and T shall 
be made whiter than snow." Psalm. 1. 9. Thy mer- 
cy is greater than my offence, thy goodness exceeds 
my malice, and thou canst pardon more sins than I 
can commit. Look not, therefore, upon me with 
disdain, nor consider the multitude of my offences ; 
but the multitude of thy mercies, who livest and 
reignest world without end. Amen, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 116 

CHAPTER VI . 
Of the Wonderful Fr-uits that foUow True Contrition. 

These, brethren, are the considerations and prayers 
that may help us to obtain this so important grace 
of contrition : I have dwelt the longer upon them, 
because this part is the foundation, and, as it were, 
the key of all the rest that compose penance. You 
ought, therefore, to read these things with the great- 
est devotion you can; you ought to retire into a 
quiet and silent place, and choose a time fit for that 
purpose : for as it often happens that one who begins 
to pray without devotion finds it in praying ; so it 
may also fall out, that as you are. reading some of 
these prayers, or meditating on some of those consid- 
erations, T propose to you, without contrition, God 
may give it you in the midst of prayer. St. Luke 
(chap. 9, V. 29,) teaches us, that our Lord was trans- 
figured whilst he was praying : thus great changes are 
often wrought in prayer, God many times granting at 
the last what he does not at the first ; «tid, therefore, 
it is not without reason that the end of prayer is, 
ordinarily, better than the beginning. 

If it happen then that the penitent, by one of these 
means, or any other, enters into a true contrition, 
*he grace of the Holy Ghost is at the same time 
restored to him, and it may be said, that from that 
very moment this blessed Spirit is given him for a 
guest, a director, and a governor, who will, like a 



116 THE MEMORIAL 09 

wise pilot, securely steer his life through the micbBt 
of this tempestuous sea He is then united by charity 
to Jesus Christ, as a living member of its head, and 
by this admirable union made partaker of the influence 
of his grace, of his merits, of his death, and of his 
life : he is then received and adopted for a child of 
God, he becomes an inhabitant of his kingdom ; Grod 
treats him as a true son, making him feel all those 
effects of his care and providence which he usually 
grants them whom he raises to this illustrious quality. 
Then this Father, full of goodness, receives into his 
house this son that was lost, causing him to be clothed 
with a white robe, which signifies innocence, and 
giving him the ring of wisdom, that is, a new know- 
ledge of heavenly things, which are hidden from the 
eyes of the world. Luke xv. 22. 

Then the heavens rejoice, the angels sing praises 
to God, and all the celestial kingdom bless that happy 
day, which restores to them a banished citizen ; and 
all creatures which were before afflicted for the offence 
done to God, and the loss of their fellow creature, 
leap for joy, and sound forth, after their manner, a 
gong of praise, to see this loss so advantageously 
repaired : but above all, this good Shepherd, who has 
with so great pains sought his strayed sheep and 
brought him home on his shoulders, makes his joy 
appear ; then he calls together all his friends and 
neighbors, saying to them : " Rejoice with me because 
I have found my sheep that was lost." Luke xv. 6. 

You will in the meantime observe, that the great- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 117 

er the penitent's humility and contrition are, the 
better they prepare him also for a more eminent 
grace, and for the receiving greater mercies ; for as 
the designed height of a building may be conceived 
Dy the low laying of its foundations, and as we see 
that a tree shoots up so much higher into the air as 
it takes root deeper into the earth, so when God gives 
men a more profound humility, and a more lively 
horror of their wicked life, it is a great sign that he 
disposes them for a more than ordinary grace. 

" Justice and judgment are," as the prophet says, 
"the preparation of God's throne." Ps. Ixxxviii. 15. 
It is judgment that examines the cause, and justice 
that executes the sentence. The soul of the sinner 
exercises these functions in herself; she resents at 
first with confusion the evil she has committed, which 
was to forsake the Creator for love of the creature ; 
and afterwards she pronounces against herself her 
own judgment, acknowledging it to be just, that he 
who dishonored God should humble himself, dishonor 
himself, and debase himself, even to the dust of the 
earth; and that he who has taken extraordinary 
delight in creatures, should exceedingly lament, and 
severely chastise himself, to do penance for his sinful 
pleasures. It is thus a soul renders herself the throne 
of God, and becomes the palace in which the Divine 
Wisdom is pleased to make its abode. St. Bernard 
says, that God makes use of fear and love, as of two 
feet, to enter into a soul : he first sets in that of fear, 
and afterwards that of love ; so that the greater the 



lis tHk mba«orial of 

fear is which begins, the greater is the love which 
follows. Our Lord, according to the language of 
the prophet, mortifieth and quickeneth, " bringeth 
down to hell, and bringeth back again." 1 Kings 
ii. 6. And this is the order most frequently kept by 
this Sovereign Lord, who, after a soul has conceived 
so great a sorrow and fear for her offences, that she 
seems as it were already swallowed up in hell, draws 
her back by his mercies, and raises her up again, 
giving her as many comforts as she has suffered griefs 
and torments in her heart. 

Thus, when your soul shall be troubled, when she 
shall be taken with these terrors, do not lose courage ; 
but, on the contrary, know that then a strong medi- 
cine is given you, to the end you may become more 
healthy ; that you are washed in scalding water, to 
the end you may be more clean ; and that you are 
laid on burning coals, to the end you may be purified 
from the filth and rust you had contracted. It will 
then be fit for you to raise your voice to God with 
the prophet, saying ; " Thou hast moved the earth, 
and hast troubled it ; heal thou the breaches thereof, 
for it has been moved ;" (Ps. lix. 2,) and then will 
you experience in yourself what the prophet adds: 
"The earth trembled, and was still, when God arose 
in judgment." Ps. Ixxv. 9, 10. 

For as soon as, being moved by God, you shall have 
pronounced against yourself the judgment we have 
mentioned, the fear of divine justice will not fail to 
seize your soul \ but this labor will soon be succeeded 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 119 

by rest, with the confidence and peace which oui 
Lord gives those to whom he shows mercy: it is he, 
that by his spirit of judgment, and by his spirit of 
fire, washes away the stains of the daughters of Sion, 
and takes from the midst of them the blood which 
defiled them, striking a terror into the souls by the 
first, that is, by the fear of his justice, and afterwards 
comforting them by the second, that is, by confidence 
in his mercy. Isai, iv. 4. Elias heard a noise, an 
earthquake, and a violent whirlwind, which overthrew 
mountains; but this tempest was followed by a 
gentle wind, in which Grod made himself known. 3 
Kings xix 

This is the most usual manner in which God works 
the conversion of souls, and this is the same he 
observed for the sanctification of the world : he gave 
it first the law, and after the law, the gospel ; and 
thus the soul ought to find in herself before all things 
the effect and rigor of the law; and afterwards the 
peace and comfort of the gospel. The property of 
the law is to frighten, as was signified by the terrors 
with which it was given on Mount Sinai; (^Exod. 
xix.) but the property of the gospel is to bring comfort 
and courage ; as it came to pass when God sent the 
Holy Ghost to the apostles on Mount Sion, in the 
day of Pentecost. "Whoever will come to this 
mountain must pass by the other :" that is, whoever 
pretends to obtain the spirit of love, must feel the 
spirit of fear ; and whoever aspires to the comforts 
of the gospel, must first undergo the rigors of tho 



120 THE MEMORIAL OF 

law. How happy is the soul that finds herself thus 
disposed. It is to her are promised all the graces 
and riches of the gospel, as Isaias signified, (c. Ixi. v. 
1, 2, 3,) when speaking in the person of our Saviour, 
he said thus : " The spirit of the Lord is upon me, 
because the Lord hath anointed me ; he hath sent me 
to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, 
and to preach a release to the captives, and deliver- 
ance to them that are shut up: to proclaim the 
acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance 
of our God ; to comfort all that mourn : to appoint to 
the mourners of Sion, and to give them a crown for 
ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise 
for the spirit of grief" See hei;e how many com- 
parisons the Holy Ghost uses, to express on one side 
the effects of the law and penance, and on the other, 
those of the gospel and grace, and how the one are 
promised by the other. It is then certain, that to 
enter into Jesus Christ's palace, and into his rich 
cellars, where are the delicious wines of the true 
Solomon, we must pass through affliction, through 
labor, and through penance ; and that whoever pro- 
poses any other way is a deceiver. Endeavor with 
the spouse to get upon the mountain of myrrh, that 
is, of bitterness, of sorrow, and of mortification, and 
you shall not fail to hear afterwards the words which 
the wise man adds : " Thou art all fair my love, and 
there is not a spot in thee." Cant. iv. 7. 

It is true, God does not always dispose in this 
order; but sometimes prevents with the sweetness 



A CHKISTIAN LIFE. 121 

ef his blessings those he will draw to him, lest the 
austerity of penance, and the strokes of despair may 
make them retire and shrink back : but it also ordi- 
narily happens that, after they have been strengthened 
by such evident pledges of his mercy, he puts into 
their souls bitter regrets for their , offences which are 
followed by this great peace, and this consolation we 
have spoken of This is what God teaches by his 
prophet, when he says : " I will give her vinedressers 
out of the same place, and the valley of Achor (that 
is, of trouble) for an opening of hope ; and she shall 
sing there, as she sang in the days of her youth." 
(Osee ii. 15.) This shows that when God uses these 
means, he begins by the sweetness of spiritual de- 
lights; that-he afterwards gives the valley of Achor, 
that is trouble, and the bitterness of Contrition ; but 
that in a short time succeed songs of youth, that is 
the joys of the soul, which pours herself forth in 
praises, seeing in herself the marks God gives her 
of his love, which are so many pledges of the marriage 
he will contract with her, and first fruits of his glory. 
It is also of very great importance to take notice 
that our Lord, in raising a soul from a less degree 
of grace to an higher, often proceeds in the same 
order he kept in bringing her to change her life, and 
pass from sin to grace : for having a design to draw 
her to great things, he disposes her for this state by 
sighs and desires, by sorrows and fears, and fills her 
not with his gifts till after he has tried her in spirit 
and body, by many labors and pains. He will have 



122 THE MEMORIAL OT 

this rainy and stormy winter to precede both the 
flowers of the spring, and the fruits of the summer, 
(Can. ii.) which are the gifts and graces that he 
prepares for his friends ; and the greater the favors 
are he reserves for them, the sharper also, usually, 
are the sorrows that go before them. Let no sinner 
therefore be dismayed when he sees himself in this 
condition ; on the contrary, let him look on it as an 
assurance of God's goodness, and of the graces he 
will bestow on him. 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the Second Part of Penance^ which is Confession^ 
and of the seven things which are to be ohservea 
in it. 

We have explained the first part of penance, which 
consists in contrition of heart ; let us now come to 
the second, which regards confession of sins. Few 
people confess as they ought ; and to perform this 
duty well, when the penitent shall have done his ut- 
most endeavor to excite in his soul a true contrition, 
according to the rules we have set down, he must 
observe what follows : 

SECTION L 

On the care that is to he taken in tocamining our 
Conscience. 

Advice I. The first thing is, that before any one 
presents himself to confession, he takes time to ex- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 123 

amine his conscience, and exact of his memory a 
faithful account of all his past sins, especially if it be 
long since he has been at confession. A wise doctor 
says : that it is to be done with all the care and dili- 
gence the most prudent men use in affairs of the 
greatest importance ; and, in truth, I know not any 
more considerable, or of greater consequence. 

This preparation is so necessary, that if it should 
be wanting, the confession would be null, unless the 
confessor should, by prudently interrogating the peni- 
tent, supply this default ; as it would also be, if any 
should, on purpose, omit to confess a sin, of which he 
knows himself guilty: and according to the opinion 
of eminent doctors of the church, it is an evil equally 
grievous to conceal voluntarily some sin in confession, 
or to confess one's self so negligently as to omit some 
for want of due examination. This is so common a 
misfortune, that it were fiit to be preached aloud in 
all public places, for the undeceiving of those who 
ordinarily go and throw themselves at the feet of a 
confessor, without any way preparing themselves by 
an examination of their life. 

Those who come to the performance of this duty 
with so little respect, besides the sacrilege they com- 
mit, are as much obliged to make a new confession 
as if they had deliberately concealed one of their 
sins ; their forgetfulness being so far from excusing 
them, that, on the contrary, it renders them more 
guilty, since it proceeds not from any defect of nature ; 
but from a manifest negligence depending on the 



l'*J4 THE Mf]MORIAL OP 

will. For avoiding these inconveniences, it is neceu- 
Barjr'for a man to be careful in himself; and the 
order he ought to keep in it is, to begin the review 
of his soul by the consideration of the mortal offences 
into which he may have fallen. For this purpose 
it will be necessary to consider distinctly the ten 
Commandments of God, and seriously to reflect how 
often he has sinned against them, by thought, word, 
or action, weighing also all the circumstances that 
have accompanied the sin, if they are such as ought 
necessarily to be confessed ; of which we will treat 
particularly hereafter. 

SECTION II. 

The Obligation we have to confess the Number of 
our Sins, 

Advice II. In the second place, it is necessary 
for the penitent, when he makes his confession, to be 
exact in declaring the number of his sins ; that is, 
how often he has committed such or such a sin; for 
if the number be not expressed, his confession will 
not be entire. If he cannot distinctly remember the 
number, let him declare it in such manner as he can 
best call it to mind ; but if his memory cannot suggest 
to him any thing like a distinct comprehension of 
the number, and if it be a sin in which he has lived 
a considerable time, as in some enmity, or sin of 
impurity, let him then declare how long he has 
3ontinued in this sin, to the end the confessor may 



i 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 1 25 

thence conjecture how often he may probably have 
offended during such a space of time : but if it be a 
gin that has not this continuance, but into which the 
penitent has several times fallen ; as, if he has fore- 
sworn himself, spoken ill of his neighbor, or cursed 
him, and cannot remember how often he has thus 
offended, let him tell at least, whether he has been 
subject to commit these sorts of sins as often a? 
occasion offered, or whether sometimes returning to 
himself, he resisted them; for by this means his 
physician, knowing the state of his disease, can better 
apply himself to cure him. 

SECTION III. 

Of Confession, and the Circumstances that ought to 
accompany it. 

Advice III. It is not enough to confess the kind 
and number of one's sins ; but their circumstances 
must also be expressed, when they are of such a 
nature as to be directly opposite to some of the com- 
mandments of Almighty God, or of his Church, or 
when they greatly aggravate the sin, though they do 
not change the kind of it : for though the act of the 
mortal sin be in itself but one, it may nevertheless 
be accompanied with such deformity or excess, that 
it will be absolutely necessary to declare them ; as, 
for example, if a man should steal arms to kill another, 
or take away his wife, it is evident that though this 

be but one act, which is to rob, and that consequently 
11* 



t26 THE MEMORIAL OF 

he commits but one sin, which is theft, yet this single 
Act is infected with the poison of two more criminal ; 
to wit, murder and adultery, which are contrary to 
these two of God's commandments : " Thou shalt not 
kill," and " Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's 
wife." And these circumstances so augment the sin^ 
that it is absolutely necessary to confess them. There 
are others that are not so important, and which may 
be omitted; as having spoken ill of others in the 
church, or having committed some sin on a fasting 
day, or a holy-day ; but after all he does well to confess 
them, as one confesses venial sins; and because it is 
not so easy a matter to discern well the diflPerence 
between these two sorts of circumstances, I will here 
set down those we are most commonly obliged to 
declare in confession. 

First, as for what concerns sins of impurity: it is 
necessary to declare the circumstances of the person 
with whom one has sinned; the sins being diflferent 
according to the different qualities of the person : for 
to offend God with a single person is simple fornica- 
tion; with a married person it is adultery; with a 
kinswoman, incest; with a priest or a nun, being 
dedicated to God's service, sacrilege, or spiritual 
adultery: and such circumstances are so essential in 
respect of this sin, that one is bound to declare them, 
not only when it has been consummated by the act; 
but also when it has been committed only in thought 
and desire, since it is the same thing in the sight of 
God. In thifi sin ako, and in all others, we must 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 1^7 

take notice whether they have caused any scandal, 
which is likewise a necessary circumstance : and by 
this word scandal is understood the giving another, 
either by words or actions, occasion to sin; as the 
soliciting a woman to incontinency, or of a man to 
gaming, or the instigating any one to be revenged 
of his enemy. Thus, in sins of the flesh, besides what 
we have already said, it is very necessary to distin- 
guish whether one has made use of such means as are 
frequent in those sorts of crimes to induce the other 
person to sin, or whether she willingly offered herself 
to it; for in the first there is scandal, which much 
augments the malice. 

It is also to be considered, whether, when a sin 
was committed, it were done in such a place, or before 
such persons as, from the evil example that was given 
them, might probably take occasion to do the like ; 
as if any one who has authority over others should eat 
flesh on a day of fasting or abstinence, or carelessly 
give himself to some other licentiousnesSj in the 
presence of those that depend on him, and will soon be 
ready to imitate his faults. In this case there is an 
indispensable obligation to confess this circumstance 
of scandal, and of the ill example we have given ; and 
this is a point that ought duly to be weighed by 
persons of quality, whose houses are open to every 
one to game in; and by all fathers and mothers, 
whose words and actions are like laws to their chil- 
dren: for though too common a misfortune, the 
Buperiors taking plea^^ure in any thing, is suflScient to 



128 THE MEMORIAL OF 

make their inferiors look on it at least as lawful, if 
not also commendable. Saul, through despair, killed 
himself with his own hand, and his servant at the 
same time fell also on his own sword, believing that 
he did not amiss in following the example of his 
master. 1 Kings 31. It is also sometimes necessary 
to declare, whether one has sinned in a holy place, 
and particularly in three cases, which are, theft, 
bloodshed, and actual impurity ; because this circum- 
stance of place aggravates the offence, and makes it 
sacrilege, which makes the crime more heinous. Tn 
like manner, when a man has sworn, or made a vow 
to do or not to do something to which he is moreover 
obliged by an express commandment of Almighty 
Grod, as^ not to swear, nor to kill, or any evil of like 
nature ; if he shall afterwards happen to do the con- 
trary, he is bound to declare this circumstance, to wit, 
his oath or vow, which makes his sin double, and 
ought to be doubly considered. 

SECTION IV. 

That it is not necessary to confess any thing that does 
not aggravate or change the Species of the Sin of 
which we accuse ourselves 

Advice IV. The fourth advice is, that having 
performed what I have declared of the number and 
circumstances of sins, there is nothing farther neces- 
sary to be done, but to express simply the kind or 
'name of the sin committed; as theft, enmity, adultery, 
or the like. Whence you may comprehend that, io 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 129 

confessing 3"0ur sins, there is no need of relating a 
history ; it is enough to tell their names, and how 
often you have committed them, without using many 
words to declare how things passed. This is a rule 
very requisite to be observed, and if the most part 
of penitents understood it, they might in a short time 
accuse themselves of their manifold sins, by reducing 
them to their kinds, and saying: I have so many 
times stolen, committed adultery, sworn false oaths, 
&c. And for the better governing himself on these 
occasions, when a penitent intends to accuse himself 
of a crime that seems to require a long rehearsal, in» 
which he will relate several circumstances that trou- 
ble his conscience and vary his sins, let him endeavor 
to pick them out of the body of his story, and accuse 
himself of them apart, and so he shall accuse himself 
as he ought. But after all, if he has not understand- 
ing enough to keep this method, let him accuse 
himself as well as he can, for God requires no more 
of any one than he knows, and is able to do. 

You may from this advice conclude, that it is not 
necessary to particularise the manner and order in 
which the sin was committed; especially if they are 
things which concern impurity, but it is sufficient 
simply to tell the kind. I could wish I might stop 
here, and this matter being very loathsome, I wish I 
could omit speaking of it : but since we are seeking 
after remedies, I am constrained rather to offend the 
chaste ear, by declaring in particular what is necessary 
to be explained. The sin of impurity may then be 



1 30 THE MEMORIAL OF 

oommitted by thought, by word, by touch, or, in fiuc, 
by the deed itself. If the act has been consummated, 
it is sufficient to tell the name of it ; as, I have so 
often committed incest, adultery, or simple fornication, 
without specifying any farther particularities, which 
are sufficiently understood when the kind of the sin 
is known. If it were by lascivious touching, you 
shall say, I have so often dishonestly touched such a 
sort of person, without adding any thing more partic- 
ular, unless by the touching there followed something 
that might change the kind of the sin. If you have 
sinned in word, you shall say, I have spoken filthily 
or immodest words to excite one to sin, or to divert 
myself, without rehearsing what you said. If you 
have offended in thought, you shall say, I have had 
an unchaste thought, I consented to it, I have taken 
delight in it, I have continued it : without particular- 
ising, I thought on such or such a thing, as many do 
to their confusion, not being obliged to it by the 
sacrament. These things are so clear, that it seems 
every one ought to be almost instructed of them by 
himself; and we should not have spoken of them, did 
we not observe the contrary to be frequently practised : 
but there are some persons so stupid, that they want 
a candle at noon-day; and the scrupulous shall by 
this learn, that they ought not to declare their sins 
in any other manner; they ought to explain them aa 
tliey are taught by the doctors of the church, and 
content themselves with that, since they are obligcvj 
tc Jo no more. 



4 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 131 

SECTION V. 
In what manner Sins of Thought are to he confessed 

Advice V. Because there is some particular diflS- 
culty in confessing well sins of thought, I shall 
succinctly show how this ought to be done. A man 
when assaulted by an evil thought can behave himself 
only after one of these four ways: he will either 
immediately repel it, or for some time entertain it, 
or determine to put in execution, or continue in it 
purposely and deliberately, with delight. For the 
first, it is clear there is no sin, but merit and a reward 
to be expected ; and so there is nothing to be confessed. 
And if the combat were so obstinate that it should 
continue a whole day, he who resists is so far from 
committing any sin, that, on the contrary, it is an 
occasion of merit for him, and a means to obtain a 
reward. The second is a venial sin, more or less 
considerable according to the time one shall have 
continued in it ; the manner of confessing it is to say, 
I accuse myself of having had a thought of impurity, 
of hatred, or of anger, and that I have not rejected 
it as I ought, but indulged some time in it. As to 
the third, when one consents to this thought, and 
resolves to put it in execution, though the act followft 
not, it is a mortal sin, and of the same kind as the 
act itself would be ; for the exterior act has essentially 
nothing more than the interior. For the fourth, 
which is the delaying voluntarily in an evil thought. 



132 THE MEMORIAL C P 

t 

whether it respects revenge, impurity, stealthy, &c., 
it is a mortal sin, and is termed in morality, delectatio 
morosa ; that is, a lingering delight ; as if one should 
say, though I drink not in the tavern, I take delight 
in thinking on it ; and there are ordinarily none but 
dissolute, vicious souls, and such as give themselves 
up to sensual pleasures, that fall into such sins ; for 
though this is not a consenting to the act of the sin. 
it is yet a consenting to the delight it gives, and puts 
a person in evident danger of consenting to the act. 
This is to be understood, when a man sees and con- 
siders what he thinks, and yet repels it not; for if 
when he makes reflection on the evil thought that 
occurs to him, he endeavors to shake off this flame 
from him, it will then be no mortal sin, because he 
stays not willingly in it, but it will be a venial one, 
because he should have taken more care not to be 
surprised by it. This manner of sin respects all 
mortal sins, though it be more frequent in sins of the 
flesh, of hatred, or of revenge, which commonly are 
more fiery and deeper rooted than the rest. 

This is a disorder into which those very often fall 
that are wholly addicted to impurity and vice, who 
seeing themselves deprived of the means to satisfy 
their brutish desires, do what they can to enjoy, at 
least in thought, their detestable pleasures, e'specially 
when they dread dishonor, or that a strict watch 
kept over them hinders their accomplishing them in 
act. Nor is it less common amongst th(?se who are 
violently possessed by some criminal, carnal passion ; 



A CHBISTIAN LIFE. 133 

this is a tyranny that seizes on the heart with a 
strange command, that carries it away, and keeps it 
continually fixed on the base object; and therefore 
there is nothing so dangerous as to give this sort of 
affections entrance into one's soul ; for it is to lodgf 
in one's house a cruel tyrant, and a destroyer of inno- 
cence, and to keep by one a secret allurement to all 
sins. Those sins may be also committed by married 
persons, in respect of husband and wife, when they 
entertain such thoughts with pleasure or delight : so 
dangerous is this abominable sin ! 

SECTION VI. 

0/ taking heed not to prejudice our Neighbor's 
Reputation, 

Advice VI. The sixth advice, to preserve our 
neighbor's reputation, confessing our own sins in 
suet a manner as not to discover those of another, 
nor even to name any person. It is sufficient to say, 
I have sinned with one that is married, or that is 
single. If the circumstance to be expressed is such 
as the confessor may by it know of whom we speak, 
we must then seek another confessor; and if that 
cannot be done, we may, in such an impossibility, 
tell the circumstance, for the confessor will not reveal 
it; and this declaration tends not to defame our 
neighbor, but to discover our own crimes. We 
must also be very exact, neither excusing our sins 
nor aggravating them with any excess, nor telling a 
12 



34 THE MEMORIAL OF 

certain thing for doubtful, nor a doubtful for certain ; 
but putting all things in their quality, telling them 
simply as they are, and never swerving from the truth. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Of cases in which the Confession is nuU, and muM 
he reiterated. 

To the end it may more clearly appear of what 
importance all those things are of which we have 
treated, I have thought it would be very proper to 
relate in few words, the most ordinary cases in which 
the confession is null, and consequently, must be 
reiterated. 

The first is, when the penitent has in his confession 
told a lie in a matter of mortal sin. The second, if 
he has deliberately and on purpose omitted to accuse 
himself of any mortal sin; that is, if he understood 
what he concealed to be a mortal sin ; for if he then 
thought it not so, but has since been better instructed, 
it will be sufficient to accuse himself of this particu- 
larly, without reiterating his whole confession : and 
though the ignorance were such that it could not 
excuse his first omission, when he fell into it, it is 
nevertheless sufficient to discharge him of this new 
obligation. The third is, if having been a long time 
from confession, he has not been careful enough 
examining his conscience ; for in this case forgetful 



II 



1 iui 
ful-J 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 135 

QehS excuses not the penitent, but, on the contrary, 
renders him more culpable. The fourth is, when the 
penitent has not a firm resolution to leave the sin in 
which he is, or when he will not restore what he 
ought. The fifth, when he is excommunicated, and 
has not taken care to get himself absolved of his ex- 
communication before his coming to this sacrament. 
It is however to be observed, that in all these castj;s 
which require the reiterating the confession, if it be 
made to the same confessor, it will not be necessary 
to repeat anew all the sins one has confessed, if the 
confessor remember them ; but it will suffice only to 
say, I accuse myself of all the sins I confessed such 
a day, and moretjver of such and such a fault, which 
obliges me to reiterate my confession ; but it is always 
safer to reiterate the confession, And because most 
men have great reason to apprehend that they have 
been guilty of some of these defects in the confessions 
they have made, it is a very prudent and wholesome 
advice for those who have any care of their salvation, 
to make once in their life a general confession, to put 
away entirely all these negligences, and afterwards 
to begin a new life, and watch over themselves with 
more attention. In fine, for the help of the weak, 
and the ease of those whose memory is defective, we 
have thought it would not be amiss to insert a short 
table of sins, according to which penitents may exam- 
ine their consciences, and prepare themselves to come 
properly disposed to this sacrament. It is not qui 
intention in presenting you with this memorial, to 



136 THE MEMORIAL OF 

take up a great number of sins which rarely happen, 
and are little known, (as some authors have done,) 
but to set before you only those into which men most 
commonly fall. 

FIRST COMMANDMENT. 

*' lam the Lord thy God, thou shaU not have strange gods before me." 

Since, as St. Augustin says, God is to be honored by the three 
theological virtues. Faith, Hope, and Charity, we ought in this 
place to speak of the sins we have committed against these virtues. 
And first, as for what concerns Faith, the penitent shall dedare 
whether he has doubted of any article of faith, for he who doubts 
in faith, is an infidel. 

Nay, though he has not absolutely doubted, if he has even in 
any manner staggered, or not been sufficiently firm in matters of 
faith, it is a sin. 

If he has with too much curiosity desired to search into matters 
of faith. 

If he has given credit to dreams, divinations, lota, and witch- 
craft, or has made use of any of these things. 

If he has given credit to, or carried about him any superstitious 
writings, containing obscure and unknown words and figures. 

If he was a free-mason, or abetted the principles of free-masonry. 

If he has performed any work of devotion with an ill intention, 
as, to the end any one might die. 

As concerning blasphemy in matters of faith, let him accuse 
himself if he has blasphemed God or his saints. 

If he has been dissatisfied with the Divine Providence, nor sub- 
mitted to the will of God ; if he has murmured against him, or 
complained of him for the afflictions and troubles he has sent him, 
as if he were not just or merciful. 

If in this rage he has desired his own death, or wished God 
would take him out of the world, testifying that he was weary of 
the life he gave him. 

As to Hope, let him examine himself whether, in the adversi^iei 
that have befallen him, he has had such confidence in God as h« 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 137 

ought; acoompanied with such oourage and consolation as thif 
livelj confidence ordinarily brings with it. 

If, on the contrary, he has placed his confidence in creatures, 
and in the powers of this world. 

If he has despaired to obtain pardon of his sins, or amendment 
of his life. 

If, on the contrary, through a presumptuous confidence of being 
pardoned for his offences, he has persisted in a wicked life, or put 
off his repentance from day to day, or to the hour of his death. 

As concerning Charity, let him accuse himself if he has not 
loved God above all things, with all his heart, and with all big 
soul, as he is obliged to do. 

If he has done good works rather for some human respect or 
interest, than for the love of Grod. 

If he has not been careful to recommend himself every day to 
God ; if he has not daily given him thanks for his benefits, and 
principally for having created him, redeemed him, and made him 
ft Christian, and that he is not an infidel or a heretic. 

If he knows not his prayers, and what a Christian is bound 
to do. 

If he has ill treated God's servants, those that pray, confess, 
and communicate ; if he has scoffed at them, or spoken ill of them. 

If he has put himself in danger to offend Almighty God, by 
doing something which he doubted to be a sin. 

SECOND COMMANDMENT. 

"TAoi* shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God m vain." 

If he has sworn any thing, knowing, or doubting it was false, 
or if he took no care whether what he swore were true : if he 
has promised any lawful thing with an oath, not having intention 
to perform it when he swore. 

If he has sworn without an intent to do as he swore. 

If he has sworn not to do a good act, as not to lend gratis, nor 
to help any one in necessity, nor to visit nor speak to one that 
he ought in charity: this oath bindeth not, no more than the 
following ; 

If he has, on the contrary, sworn to do any evil. 

He must also accuse himself of those oaths by which he cursei 

12* 



1S8 THE MEMOEIAL OP 

or imprecates on himself any evil, which are very common ; a0, 
let such a thing come on me ; let such an accident befall me. 

If he has been the cause of any one's swearing falsely, or not 
performing a lawful oath he may have made. 

If he has been accustomed to swear frequently: it is a perilous 
habit, because it puts us in danger of sometimes swearing falsely. 

If he has omitted to reprehend his children or servants when 
he has heard them swear. 

As concerning vows ; if he has broken any vow, or too long 
delayed to fulfil it. 

It he has made a vow to do some evil, or not to do some good : 
neither of these vows obliges. 

Great care is also to be taken that, in granting the change of 
any vow, it be done with great prudence. 

THIRD COMMANDMENT. 

" Remember that thou Ixep holy the SabbcUh Day," 

If he has broken any holyday, by doing or commanding an) 
servile work to be done on it, except it were some small matter. 

If he has neglected to hear a whole Mass on such days, without 
lawful cause. 

If he has not behaved himself at Mass, at divine service, and in 
holy places, with such reverence as is due to them ; or if he haa 
employed himself there in gazing, talking, or laughing. 

If he has not taken care that his children and servants should 
hear Mass on such days. 

If he has spent the holydays in gaming or vanities. 

If he has neglected the hearing of sermons. 

If, being excommunicated, he has been present at divine service, 
or received any sacrament. 

FOURTH COMMANDMENT. 

^^ Honor thy Father and thy Mother," 

This commandment comprehends. 1. The duties of children 
towards their parents, and of parents towai-ds their children. 2. 
Of servants towards their masters, and of masters towards their 
•ervants. 3. Of superiors towards their inferiors, and of inferioi-a 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 139 

t4)\i?ards their superiors. 4. Of the wife towards the husband, 
and of the husband towards his wife. 5. Of sons-in-law towards 
their fathers-in-law, and of fathers-in-law towards their sons-in- 
law. There is in a manner but one and the same rule for all these, 
an 4 there may be also added to it what young people owe to their 
eiders, and all those who have received favors, to their benefactors. 

According to this order, a son ought first to examine himself, 
if he has slighted his father or mother, if he has treated them 
with disrespect, or spoken ill of them. 

If he has disobeyed them in things that were lawful. 

If he has not succored them in their necessities. 

If he has behaved himself disdainfully or injuriously to them, 
because they were poor, or of mean condition. 

If he has not performed their last wills and testaments. 

If he has wished their death, to enjoy their estates or property. 

As for fathers ; let them consider if they have taken such care 
of their children as they ought, especially in teaching them to 
know and serve God, 

If they have not rebuked or chastised them when they have 
seen them neglect their duties, or frequent evil company. 

If they have been too indulgent to them, in letting them have 
tUeir own will, and follow their evil inclinations. 

For masters : they ought to observe the same things, in as much 
as regards their domestics, and to provide them what is necessary 
for them. 

Let them consider also, if they have been careful of them when 
they were sick, and caused them to receive the sacraments. 

If they suffered them to neglect their duty to God, or to fall 
into vice, being able to hinder it. 

Fathers-in-law and their sons-in-law are obliged to live in peace, 
ajad a good understanding j and therefore let them examine them- 
selves, and see whether there is any enmity between them ; if they 
have had any quarrel, or given one another evil words : if worldly 
interests have made them desire one another's death. 

Let married persons consider their duties : the husband, if he 
has treated his wife lovingly; if he has not abused her by worda 
or otherwise. The wife, if she has misbehaved herself towards 
her husband; if she has disobeyed him; if she has at any time 
oflcnded him by injurious words, and thereby given iiim occaeioo 



110 THE MEMORIAL OF 

t^» lose his })atience, or break forth into oaths. If there be aaf 
cause of jealousy between them. 

Let subj(K5ts honor their superiors; let thena see if they have 
been disobedient to them; if they have contemned the laws and 
orders they have given them ; if they have despised them in their 
hearts ; if they have spoken ill of them ; if they have judged 
rashly of them, putting an ill interpretation on their actions, say- 
ing they did them for interest, or any other worldly respects ; if 
they have not shown reverence to persons placed in oflBce and 
dignity. 

It they have contenmed aged persons ; if they have not honor- 
ed them; if they have mocked them, or scoffed at them. 

If they have been ungrateful to their benefactors ; if they have 
forgotten their favors, or, which is much more infamous, ren- 
dered them evil for good. 

FIFTH COMMANDMENT. 
<' Thau shaU not kiU." 

The soul being far more considerable than the body, the peni- 
tent ought, in the first place, to reflect if he has not spiritually 
slain any one, by having incited him, or given him counsel or oc- 
casion, to sin mortally ; which is called the sin of scandal. 

If he has accompanied him, favored him or given him assistance 
in any wicked action. 

As to the body ; if he has killed any one ; if he has desired or 
wished his neighbor's death ; if he has prayed to God for it. 

If he has challenged or accepted a challenge, or encouraged, as- 
sisted, or was present at duelling ; this being a heinous sin though 
tj'equent. 

If be has borne a deliberate hatred against any one, with a 
design to be revenged of him, and how long this hatred has con- 
tinued. 

If he has taken away any one's reputation, with the scandal of 
his neighbor. 

If he has engaged in factions and quarrels, and if he has favored 
them. 

If he has threatened any one, or given him reproadiful language, 
not being his servant, or under his government. 



i 



A CHKISTIAN LIFE. 141 

If he has refused to for^ve him who has humbly asked pardon 
of him. 

If, having offended any one by words or actions, he would not 
desire his pardon, either by himself, or by a third person, or if 
be has not sufficiently satisfied him for his offence. 

SIXTH COMMANDMENT. 

" Thou shaU not commit Adultery." 

In all sins God may be offended by thought, word, and deed,* 
but it more frequently happens in this. And if we are so unhappy 
as to fall any of these three ways into sin, we must declare the 
quality and circumstance of the person with whom we have 
offended, as we have already said. 

According to this order then, when a penitent shall accuse him- 
self of his thoughts, he shall tell if he has been negligent in speed- 
ily resisting his unclean thoughts ; if he has consented to them 
with purpose to put them into execution if he had an opportu- 
nity ; if he has wilfully and deliberately taken delight in them, 
knowing what he did. 

As to words; if he has spoken filthy and immodest words; if 
he has taken pleasure in such kind of discourses. 

If he has solicited any one to sin by words, letters, or the inter- 
position of a third person. 

As to deeds; if he has consummated the sinful act, or, if it has 
not been consummated, if he has been guilty of unchastely 
touching either himself or any other person. 

If he has fallen into any voluntary pollution ; if he has himself 
procured it, or if it befell him in his sleep, of which the judgment 
must be according to the cause preceding it, and the sorrow or 
delight following it. 

If he has done any thing to provoke others to this sin, either 
by painting, loose or wanton dress, showing one's self at windows, 
or other open places, and the like. 

If he has endeavored to corrupt the chastity of others by 
presents, promises, true or false, or any other means whatever. 

If he has not avoided the occasions of sin, as dangerous com - 
pany and conversation, or the having in his own house the occa 
lion of sinning, which is the greatest and most to be feared of all. 



142 THE MEMORIAL OF 

If he has taken pleasure in reading such books as might pro- 
voke him to sin. 

If he has not had recourse to fasting, prayer, the sacraments, or 
other spiritual remedies, when he has found himself tempted by 
Chii sin. 

SEVENTH COMMANDMENT 
<^ Thou shalt not Steal" 

If he has taken any thing belonging to another, by deceit, rio- 
wnce, usury, or simony. 

If he keeps another's goods against the owner's will, and does 
ttot restore it. Nor is it suflScient to have a* design of restoring it 
hereafter, but he must immediately do it, though by doing this 
act of justice he should be driven to want something requisite for 
the decency of his condition; particularly if the owner himself 
be much endamaged by want of it. 

If he detains his servants' or workmen's wages, or money due 
to tradesmen, against their wiU. 

If he restores not such thmgs as he has found, when he knows 
the owner. 

If in buying or selling he has used any deceit in the wares, 
price, weight, or measure; if he has bought of such as were not 
capacitated to sell, as of children and the like; if he has taken of 
them any thing they ought not to give. 

If, under pretence of selling on credit, he has taken above the 
just price, having no other just cause to do so ; which he shall 
submit to the judgment of his confessor. 

If he has lent upon usury, or entered into society with any one 
where the loss and gain are uncertain, with covenant to have his 
whole principal secured to himself. 
If he has cheated any way, and gained by it. 
If he has played for more than was convenient for one of his 
condition. 

If he has played with minors, or persons under age, for more 

than they could play for. 

If in gaming he has sworn, quarrelled, or gn en evil language. 

If he has not faithfully discharged the employ for which he ii 

paid: which respects not only workmen, but also those that are 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 143 

ID the service of great persons^as their cashiers, stewards, over- 
seers, or other officers; for if their master has received any dam- 
age by their negligence, they are bound to make it good. 

If he who has the disposal of public offices, benefices, and other 
important employs, regards only the persons to whom he gives 
them, and if he bestows tkem for worldly respects, and not ac- 
cording to justice. 

If he has advised the giving of a benefice or office to an uo- 
warthy person, or one that is unfit for it. 

If He has not paid dues tx) his pastor. 

EIGHTH COMMANDMENT. 

*^ Thou shaU not bear False Witness" 

This commandment contains two great branches; the one com- 
prehends the sins which are committed in judgment by the judges, 
lawyers, and witnesses, jury, plaintiff, and defendant; the other, 
slanders, detractions, mockeries, suspicions, lies and flatteries, 
which are so conmion in the world. 

As for the first, it is for the penitent to consider, if he is or haa 
been a judge, lawyer, witness, or jury-man, and conformably to 
accuse himself of what concerns these employs. 

As for the second branch, he who confesses shall first reflect if 
he has borne any false witness. 

If it is a woman, she shall accuse herself, if through anger or 
iealousy she has spoken unseemly of any other woman, saying, 
that she behaves herself ill, that she brings others into bad com- 
pany, that she is a bad woman, or a thief, when she misses any 
thing out of her house : for to speak thus, when there Ls but little 
ground for it, is also to bear false witness. 

If he has spoken ill of any one with a bad intention, and design 
to do him a displeasure, which is called detraction; if he has re- 
vealed any grievous and secret fault of another, whose reputation 
is blemished by it, though he had no design to prejudice him ; 
for though the thing be true, he is obliged to restore his good 
name, which he had taken away. 

If he haa taken delight in hearkening to detractors, and if h* 
has either excited them to detraction, or encouraged them in ii , 
if he has been too light in reporting the evil he has heard of 
another. 



144 THE MEMORIAL OF 

If he has not defended his nftghbor's reputation, when de- 
famed, knowing him to be innocent. 

If he has found fault with another person's conduct uncharita* 
bly ; if he has mocked or scoffed at the defect of others, either 
in body or mind ; if he has judged rashly of his neighbor's wordi 
or actions, putting an ill construction on that which might have 
been taken in good part, or which is more dangerous, if he has 
spoken that as certain which he only suspected in his heart. 

If he is suspicious, taking occasion from the smallest matters to 
believe ill of his neighbor ; if he has sown divisions, or raised 
discontents between friends, by carrying tales from one to another, 
which often produces great enmities. 

If he has told any lie, to the prejudice or disadvantage of his 
neighbor, or in any other manner. 

If he has obtained any thing by false information, which he 
could not of right have expected. 

If he has discovered any thing entrusted to him as a lawful 
secret ; if he has opened another's letters. 

We have spoken of the ninth and tenth commandments in what 
we have said concerning the sixth and seventh. 

OF THE SEVEN CAPITAL SINS. 
Of Pride, 

Sin I. — ^Pride is an inordinate desire of one's own excellence j 
this is a sin whence many others proceed, the principal of which 
are vain-glory, ambition, presumption, ostentation, and hypocri- 
sy. According, therefore, to this, he who shall perceive himself 
infected with this sin, may accuse himself of every one of these 
kinds in the following manner : 

And first, as touching vain-glory: if he has gloried in having^ 
done any wicked action, as in having been revenged, in having j 
beaten or dishonored any one, Ac. 

If he has attributed to himself any glory for vain qualities, 
and such as deserve it not j as, for the beauty of his face, the 
comeliness of his body, the fashion of his clothes, his train ot] 
servants, wealth, descent, and such like things, which are of very 
Utile importance. 

If be has gloried vainly in those that are indeed good, and 



J 



A OHUTSTIAN LIFE. 145 

worthy of giory ; as in his virtue, knowledge, and prudence, all 
ll/e <rlory of which ought to be given to God alone. 

If he has delighted in being flattered, or receiving praises from 
men, with too much complacency for himself, and without refer- 
ing the glory to Almighty God. 

As concerning ambition : if he has excessively desired honor 
«nd vain-glory, and has for that cause done any thing contrary 
to his duty. 

If he has been so afraid of shame, ill-repute, or disesteem, as, 
for the avoiding of these inconveniences, to have done what he 
ought not, or omitted what he ought to have done. 

If, through the sole apprehension of men's speeches, he has 
abstained from doing any good : as confessing his sins, communi- 
cating, hearing Mass, conversing with devout persons. 

As for what respects presumption : if he has been too much 
conceited of himself, esteeming himself mo*^ virtuous, more learn- 
ed, more wise, or more noble, than he is; and if, on the other 
side, he has too good an opinion of himself for what he is indeed, 
not attributing the glory of it to God. 

If he has too great confidence in his own judgment, knowledge 
or virtue ; if for that reason he will not receive counsel, advice, 
or correction from others. If, for the same reason, he defends 
manifest faults, seeking excuses in his sins. 

If not to seem overcome, he obstinately contends against what 
he knows to be true and reasonable. 

If he has little esteemed other persons, speaking contemptibly 
of them ; if, with this presumption of himself, he has derided or 
scorned the weakness or ignorance of others. 

As for what regards hypocrisy: if he has affected to appear 
what he is not, or desired to be thought better than he is, to pro- 
cure himself vainly a reputation amongst men. 

And, in fine, as concerning ostentation ; if he has through van- 
ity, praised himself, and put a greater value on his actions tnan 
he ought : if he has boasted of having committed any sin, as of 
having dishonored any woman, beaten or misused any person ; 
if he has vaunted of any thing he never did, especially if it were 
linful, that he might pa&s for a man of courage. 



146 THE MEMORIAL Of 

Covetoumeaa, 

Sin n. — If he is covetous; if he has hoarded up much motkty 
w ithout a reasonable cause ,* or if, on the contrary, he has oeen 
prodigal, and squandered away his estate. 

If he spends beyond his ability, and, to support it, reduces 
himself to necessity, and defrauds his family of their due ; if he 
pi jvides not what is fitting for his children and servants. 

If he is such an inordinate lover of riches, that he forgets God, 
ar.d the salvation of his soul, to satisfy his covetousness. 

If he has desired any one's death, in order to enjoy his estate, 
or for any advantage he expected from it. 

0/ Lechery, 

Sin HE. — This is treated of in the Sixth Commandment. 

Of Anger, 

Sin IV. — Let the penitent in the first place, consider, if he ba^ 
been so angry with himself as to wish or desire his own death. 
If in his anger and fury he has hurt himself; if he has given 
himself to the devil, cursed himself, or attempted to hurt himself. 

As concerning his neighbor : if he has been angry wdth him, 
or taken dislike to him without cause. 

If he has spoken with anger or abuse to him ; if he has given, 
him injurious language, calling him thief, drunkard, or fool, if it 
be not to correct him as his servant. 

If to vex him he has upbraided him with the faults he has fallen 
into ; through the same motive, he has uttered the same injurious 
words, or discovered the same faults of the person he would 
affront, in his absence. 

If he has cursed, or offered to the devil, anyof 6od*s creatnrei; 
if he has wished vengeance on them. 

If he is obstinate, choleric, quarrelsome, and outrageona iB nlf 
words and reasonings. 

Of GluUonjf, 



Sin "V. — If he has broken the fasts of the chQrc!^ 
If he has eaten flesh meat on prohibited days. 



I 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 147 

If he has eaten with such excess, or of such meats as hare 
prejudiced his health. 

If he has drunk or eaten too much, too often, or with too gre«i 
sensual delight. 

Of Envy, 

Sin VI. — ^If he has deliberately been displeased at fcds neigfa' 
>or's prosperity. 

If he has rejoiced at another's misfortune ; as, to see him fallen 
into losses. 

If he has spoken ill of him to do him injury in his person or 
reputation, or to raise his own on the ruin of another's ; if he 
das discovered any of his neighbor's secret faults, to diminish the 
isteem that might be had of him, and if he has, for the same 
jause, been displeased when he has been well spoken of. 

Of SlotK 

Sin VII. — If he has through sloth omitted to do any good 
work ; as, to hear Mass, or to pray, particularly when he was 
obliged to do it. 

If he has done the works of God coldly and negligently. 

If he is inconstant in his good designs and purposes ; if he 
leaves his exercises of piety on the least occasion ; if he delayt 
them from day to day. 

If he mis-spends his time in vain thoughts, idle words, or un- 
profitable actions. 

If he is extraordinarily afflicted at the troubles and adversities 
that befall him ; and if, on the contrary, he is too much puffed 
up with prosperity and good success, not giving God the glory of it. 

Of the Works of Mercy. 

Let him, in the first place, accuse himself if he has been negli- 
gent in the spiritual works of mercy, particularly if he has not 
given counsel or advice to those to whom he profitably might ; 
if he has neglected to reprehend them for their faults, especially 
those of whom he was obliged to take care. 

If, in performing this duty, he has done it with such anger, or 
with ^0 little moderation, that ha did more hurt than good ; if he 
bas not been moved with so many disorders, miseries, and here- 



148 THE MEMORIAL OF 

eies, as are in the world, and if he has not prajed God to reme- 
dy them. 

As to corporal works of mercy : let him consider, it he has 
assisted his neighbor in his troubles and necessities, and if he has 
given alms to the poor according to his ability. 

If he thinks them burdensome to him, if he speaks ill of them, 
if he gives them harsh words, if he shows himself displeased at 
♦;heir importunity, if he derides them. 

Of other particular Accusations, according to the State or Con- 
dition one is in. 

Besides these accusations, which may be common to all sorts of 
persons, there are some others more particular, which regard the 
state and condition of e^ery one. There is a difference between 
the obligations of a bishop, of a curate, of a priest, of a religious 
person, of a merchant, of a judge, of a lawyer, of a physician ; 
and thus the faults they commit in their functions are different, 
and they ought particularly to declare them. 

Prelates, and all that have charge of souls, ought to accuse 
themselves, if they have neglected the duty incumbent on them, 
to feed their flocks with their doctrine, example, and prayers. 

Priests, of what concerns their office, and the celebration of 
Mass. 

Religious persons, of the vows and the obligations of their order. 

Judges, if for any worldly respects, or other ill motives, they 
have violated justice ; if they have too long delayed it. Lawyers, 
if they have maintained unjust causes ; if they have put off trials, 
or if they have not examined their client's case with care enough. 

Plaintiffs and defendants, if their pretentions were unjust ; if 
they effected delays to perplex affairs, and render them obscure ; 
ff they have CDucealed or torn papers that testified the truth ; or 
if they have gained the judges by favor, cabals, or open corruption. 

Witnesses, if they have declared the truth, without favor or 
affection. 

Let merchants accuse themselves of dealing in prohibited 
traffic, and if in their buying and selling they have done any 
thing contrary to justice. And so of others, every one according 
to his condition. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 149^ 

General Directions for distinguishing between Mortal and VeniiU' 

JSin, 

In all those sorts of sins we have here set down, it would noti 
have been amiss to declare which are mortal, and which ard 
venial sins; because we are, of necessity, obliged to confess all* 
our mortal sins, but as to our venial sins we are not bound to 
confess them, if we are certain that they were only venial. But 
•ince this matter cannot be explained in a few words, we will con- 
tent ourselves with giving some general directions concerning: 
this point, leaving the rest to the judgment of the confessor. 

To know then what is mortal, and what is venial sin, these two' 
following rules are ordinarily observed. The first is, that what- 
soever is contrary to charity, is mortal sin; and by charity we- 
understand the love of God and our neighbor : according to this 
rule, whatever is against God's honor, or our neighbor's good, in 
any matter of importance, is a mortal sin; as, to have any way 
prejudiced him in his honor, in his estate, or the like; for thiS' 
destroys charity, in which the life of the soul consists, and is 
therefore rightly called mortal sin, because it takes away its^ 
spiritual life. But whatsoever is not materially against charity, 
is a venial sin ; as some idle words, which injure nobody, some 
vain complacency, some hastiness, some kind of sloth or glut- 
tony, as the eating a Uttle more than is necessary, and other faults 
of the Uke nature. The second and more particular rule is, that 
whatsoever breaks any commandment of Gk)d or his church, is a 
mortal sin. Thus whosoever offends against the commandment,, 
which says, " Thou shalt not steal ;" or against that which says, 
**Thou shalt not commit adultery;" or against the precepts of' 
the church, which ordains the confessing once a year, or the- 
communicating at Easter, commits a mortal sin. It is neverthe- 
less to be observed, that what is of itself a mortal sin, may, not- 
withstanding, happen to be only venial, by reason of its circum- 
stances ; for example, he who steals a bunch of grapes, though^ 
he steals, commits not a nx)rtal sin, if he did not think that it was- 
a mortal sin when he was taking it, or doubted that it might be- 
such, because of the small value of the thing. 

It is also to be observed, that there are three sorts of com- 
mandments: some are negative; as, " Thou shalt not kill," Ac. ; 
which oblige always, and at all times: others are affirmatiTei 
13* 



150 THE MEMORIAL Olf 

as, to give alms, to be sorry for one's sins, to love God; these bind 
ti.l ways, though not at all times, but only when occasion requires ; 
the third sort are mixed, and have somewhat in common botJi 
with the negative and affirmative ones j ae to restore another 
man's goods ; because this precept on the one side commands us 
to restore, and on the other forbids us to retain what belongs not 
to us : so those which are of this nature, bind in both manners ; 
to wit, always, and at all times. And thus it is not enough for 
him who owes, to have a purpose of making restitution hereafter, 
he is obliged to do it out of hand, and not to keep another's goods 
against the will of the owner, according to the nature of the neg- 
ative commandment, which enjoins it, and obliges always and at 
all times. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Of the third 'part of Penance, which is Satisfaction. 

After contrition and confession must follow satis- 
faction. This is the third part of penance, and by 
this God is satisfied for the faults committed against 
him. For the better understanding this important 
instruction, it is to be considered, that as he who 
breaks the laws of the commonweal, is obliged to 
suffer the penalties ordained by those laws ; so he 
who breaks the laws of God, is liable to the punish- 
ments appointed by Divine Justice. These penalties 
are undergone either in this life or the next ; that is, 
either in this world, in purgatory, or in hell ; in hell 
the torments are eternal ; in purgatory the pains in- 
deed last not for ever, but yet they are so terrible, 
that, as St. Augustin says, all the torments of this 
world, though even the most horrid ever suffered 



A CHRISTIAN LIFR 151 

by the martyrs, are not in the least to be compared 
to them. Fastings and corporal austerities, though 
bat light sufferings, exempt us nevertheless from this 
dreadful punishment ; for since God in these things 
regards not so much the sharpness of what is suffer- 
ed, as the will with which this sacrifice is offered him : 
and since what is free and voluntary in this world, 
is forced in the other ; a little pain, voluntarily en- 
dured in this life, has more value, and gives more 
ample satisfaction, than many great ones suffered of 
necessity in the next 

On which you will perhaps ask me, if then the 
sacrament of penanee is not sufficient to deliver us 
from the punishment due to sin, how does that of 
baptism produce this effect ; for it effaces all, and at 
the same time absolves men both from the pain and 
the guilt ? I answer you, that there is a great dif- 
ference between these two sacraments ; that of bap- 
tism is a spiritual regeneration, and a new birth of 
tlie interior man ; and thus, as a thing which is born 
anew, ceases immediately to be what it was, and re- 
ceives a new being, without retaining anything of 
what it had before ; as, when of a kernel there grows 
up a tree, the kernel loses its being, and the tree 
receives a new one ; so, when a man is spiritually 
born again, he at the same time ceases to be that old 
man, that is, that child of wrath and perdition he 
was before ; and begins to be a new man, which is a 
child of grace, and free at the same time both from 
guilt and pain. But the sacrament of penance ope- 



152 THE MEMORIAL Of 

rates not in this manner: it annihilates not past 
sins, as a regeneration ; but cures them as a remedy. 
This wholesome medicine sometimes indeed entirely 
restores the health of the soul, but sometimes also it 
restores it not so perfectly ; it frequently leaves in 
the patients the relics of their ancient infirmity, 
which, with care and good government, wear away 
in time. Thus penance sometimes cures perfectly, 
that is, both of pain and guilt, when it is accompanied 
with perfect contrition ; such as was that of St. Mary 
Magdalen, and some others ; but when the contrition 
is not so full, it takes not away all the punishment 
which must be suffered either in this life or the next. 
The manner of men acting one with another gives us 
an example of this conduct. A lord, who shall have 
committed a capital crime against his prince, may 
afterwards do him such great services as will render 
him worthy of his favor, and obtain a general pardon 
of the punishment which was due to his offence ; 
he may also do him others not so considerable, and 
by that means recover his prince's favor, with some 
change of his punishment, as banishment instead of 
death. David dealt thus with his son Absalom, for 
a murder he had committed on the person of his 
brother Amnon, in a cause of indignation he had 
against him ; he banished him three years out of his 
kingdom ; but after that time, being willing to par- 
don him, he did it on condition he should not see 
his face, nor enter into his palace. 2 Kings xiii. 14. 
In like manner, when the condition of a sinner is not 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 155 

BO perfect, God pardons his sin by the virtue of the 
sacrament, and exempts him from the eternal pun- 
ishment he had merited, and often from a part of the 
temporal ; but he will not permit this criminal to 
enter into his palace, nor so soon to see his face, till 
time has purged away his stains, either in this life 
or the next. Thus God dealt with David; seeing 
that he confessed his sin, and that his repentance 
was sincere, he pardoned him the adultery into which 
he had fallen, and re-established him in the grace he 
had lost ; (ibid, xii.) but he afterwards sent him 
great afflictions, for a crime which was pardoned 
him. Ibid. xxiv. 

But what sin was ever more pardoned than that 
of Aaron and Moses at the waters of contradiction *f 
Num. XX. Nevertheless, though the sin was for- 
gotten, the sentence pronounced by the Divine Jus- 
tice had its effect ; (^Deut. iii. 32.) and these two holy 
personages, for this cause, were not allowed to enter 
the Land of Promise. Thus then it happens to the 
greatest part of men in this sacrament ; the sin is 
there pardoned, divine grace is there acquired by 
the virtue of Jesus Christ's passion, which operates 
divinely in it ; but often by reason of the imperfec- 
tion of the sorrow, a man remains obliged to certain 
degrees of punishment, in such measures as it pleases 
God to inflict them : and there being nothing so 
advantageous for the discharging of these punish- 
ments, as acts of piety and good works, those are, 
(Without doubt, most efficacious which are most labo- 



154 THE MEMORIAL OF 

rious, and most irksome to our flesh. For since 
the flesh," as St. Grregory says, " has, by its irregular 
delights, cast us into the crime, it is fit she should 
punish herself for it, and by voluntary chastisements, 
get rid of her evil: and since we have made no 
scruple to displease God for the pleasing of our 
senses, reason requires that we should afflict and 
mortify them for the satisfying of God." 



CHAPTER X. 

On the Origin and Cause of Satisfaction. 

Being thoroughly persuaded, as we ought to be 
by the reasons I have alleged, of the necessity of 
satisfaction, let us now see what is the origin of it 
to the end you may better know how you ought to 
make it. 

Remember then what I observed to you in the 
beginning of this book, that true penance and the 
conversion of a sinner is the greatest favor one can 
receive in this life. Glory is indeed something more 
excellent than grace, since the one is grace begun, 
and the other grace perfected ; but in effect it is a 
more extraordinary favor of God to draw a man out 
of sin and put him in the state of grace, than to give 
him glory after he has given him grace. Moreover 
as baptism, which is the door of the sacraments and 
the beginning of man's regeneration, brings along 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 155 

with it all the virtues and all the gifts of the Holy 
Ghost, with the grace from which all these benefits 
proceed ; so true penance, which is the beginning of 
our resurrection, acquires all these gifts, but particu- 
larly a new knowledge of spiritual and divine things, 
to which man, as dwelling in the regions of darkness 
and the shadow of death, was in a manner blind ; it 
acquires a new charity and love of God, which is the 
form of true penance and all other virtues, and causes 
in our soul wonderful sentiments and effects of this 
virtue ; for as natural love is the source of all the 
other natural affections and passions, so the super- 
natural love of God is the origin of all spiritual 
affections and motions, which are so much the greater, 
as this love is more powerful. And as the grace of 
conversion is sometimes greater, as was that of St. 
Paul, of St. Augustin, and several others ; and some- 
times less, as the ordinary conversions which we daily 
see ; so the interior motions and affections of the 
soul, which come from this grace, are sometimes 
greater and sometimes less. 

This virtue then causes first to spring up in the 
soul so much sorrow and so great a displeasure for 
having offended God, that a true penitent would 
rather choose to have suffered a thousand sorts of 
torments, than to have sinned against such a master. 
It imprints in his heart a true fear of the Divine 
Majesty, whom he knows that he has offended ; it 
renders him sensible how justly he has merited his 
indignation and wrath, and makes him apprehend 



156 THE MEMORIAL OF 

the effects of it ; it makes him conceive a very great 
shame of appearing in his presence, like that of the 
publican in the Gospel, who, covered with shame and 
confusion, durst not lift up his eyes to heaven. 
Lake xviii. In fine, it excites in him a very strong 
resolution to satisfy God by the mark of a true pen- 
ance for the sins committed against him, and an 
ardent desire of revenging upon his own flesh the 
evils of which it has been the occasion ; for consider- 
ing that to please this enemy, and to content its 
irregular desires, he has followed the disorderly love 
of creatures, and renounced the love he owed to his 
Creator, he becomes so incensed against his own 
flesh, that there are not any pains or torments he 
would not willingly inflict on it, as the only cause of 
his misfortune. 

Such was the spirit of penance which the holy 
man Job expresses in these words : "I have sinned : 
what shall I do to thee, keeper of men ?" Job 
vii. 20. As if he would more clearly say, according 
to St. Augustin's interpretation : Lord ! I acknow- 
ledge my sin, and the trouble it gives me is such^ 
that there is no pain I would refuse to suffer for the 
expiating of it. See, Lord ! what thou pleasest 
to have me do ; behold me ready for whatsoever thou 
wilt do with me : I have nothing else to offer thee 
but a heart disposed for whatever thou wilt command 
it; if it be thy pleasure that I should be burned in 
raging flames, that my body be torn in pieces, or that 
[ endure any other torment whatsoever • behold I 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 157 

am ready. I offer myself to thee, bound hand and 
foot, and lying prostrate before thee ; I fly not ; I 
refuse thee not for my Judge ; I appeal not from thy 
judgment ; I allege no excuses, nor desire any miti- 
gation of my punishments. Judge me only accord- 
ing to thy will ; be thou the knife, and let me be the 
flesh ; cut me where and how thou pleasest, provided 
thou pardon me the sins I have committed. It was 
thus David afflicted himself, when he said, " I am 
afflicted and humbled exceedingly; I roared with 
the groaning of my heart. Lord, all my desire is 
before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from 
thee. My heart is troubled, my strength hath left 
me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me." 
Psalm xxxvii. 9, 10, 11. Thus ought all those to 
humble, afflict, and chastise themselves, who have 
presumed to offend their God. For (as a holy doc- 
tor says,) it is fit, that a soul which has forsaken 
Ood, to please herself inordinately in the creature 
against the will of the Creator, should pay with rigor 
60 lawful a debt, and by voluntary pains purge away 
the criminal delights with which she hath blinded 
herself Since guilt naturally deserves to be followed 
by pain, which amends and corrects it, it is just that 
they who have dared to commit many faults, should 
procure themselves many pains : and since man has 
by sin separated himself from the Sovereign Good, 
and foolishly adhered to the creature, which is an 
intolerable contempt of Almighty God, it is just that, 
to expiate this so criminal an injury against this 
U 



158 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Divine Power, he should by his own will abase him- 
self even to the dust of the earth. 

In this manner then do they labor to satisfy God, 
whose eyes he has opened with his celestial light; 
to the end that, knowing the greatness of the Divine 
Goodness, they may therein know also their own 
extreme vileness, and that the one and the other may 
be the measure of their satisfaction. To strengthea 
you in this design, and at the same time not only to 
produce an example, but also to give confusion to the 
wretched carelessness which is now found amongst 
men, I have thought it would not be amiss to set 
here before your eyes some circumstances of the 
admirable austerity and rigor of certain penitente 
whom St. John Climachus found in a monastery, 
which this holy man, as an eye-witness, relates al- 
most in these very words : 

" Being come into this monastery, I beheld there 
things which the eye of the slothful had never seen, 
the ear of the negligent has never heard, and the 
heart of sluggards will never be able to comprehend. 
I saw there actions and words capable, if I may so 
speak, to do violence to the Almighty, ^nd bow down 
his mercy in a moment. I saw some of these holy 
penitents, who passed whole nights standing upright 
in the open air, as if they had been immovable; 
and when sleep began to seize on them, I saw them 
struggle, by reviling themselves, to keep it oflF, as 
unwilling to grant their bodies the least repose. I 
saw others, who keeping their eyes perpetually fixed 



^ CHRISTIAN LIFIk\ 159 

towards heaven, with never ceasing isighs and tears 
implored the divine mercy and assistance. Others, 
on the contrary, said with the publican, that they 
were not worthy to lift up their eyes towards heaven, 
or to speak unto Almighty God ; and thus in sorrow 
and silence they offered up their souls, filled with 
confusion and fear. Others there were who, clad 
with sack-cloth and hair-cloth, hid their faces be- 
tween their knees, and struck their foreheads against 
the ground with inexplicable bitterness of heart. I 
saw some who had watered the earth round about 
them with their tears, and others that lamented ex- 
cessively because they could not weep. Several 
others, mourning over themselves, as we do over the 
grave of a deceased friend, bewailed the loss of their 
souls. Others there were, who, ready to roar for 
grief, eagerly strove to stifle the noise of their com- 
plaints, till no longer able to repress them, they were 
forced to let them break forth with greater violence. 
I saw some, who by their exterior actions, and by the 
apparent trouble of their minds, appeared so aston- 
ished, that one would have taken them for statues of 
stone, so insensible to all things had the excess of 
their sorrow rendered them : their heart was plunged 
in an abyss of humility ; and their scorching grief 
had dried up all their tears." And a little after, 
tliis holy man goes on thus : (ihid. art. 14 and seq.') 
" There one might have seen these holy penitents, 
full of sorrow, and bowing down to the earth, who 
oontemning all care of their flesh, mingled their 



100 THE MEMOrjAL OF 

bread with ashes, and their drink with tears There 
were heard among them no words, but such as these : 
Wo ! wo ! be to us, wretches as we are. It is with 
justice, Grod, it is with justice ! Pardon us, if 
thou pleasest, Lord, pardon us ! Many of them 
had their tongues hanging out of their mouths, like 
wearied dogs, through the extremity of the thirst 
that tormented them : some there were, that in the 
height of summer stood parching in the sun's most 
violent heat ; and others, on the contrary, in the 
depth of winter suffered themselves to freeze with 
cold. Some took a little water to refresh their 
tongue, but not sufficient to quench their thirst ; and 
others contented themselves with a small morsel of 
oread, refusing more, and saying, they were not 
worthy to eat the food of men, since they had lived 
the lives of beasts. 

"ximongst these exercises, it is easy to be imagin- 
ed there was no room for divertisements or idle dis- 
courses, and, consequently, much less for wrath or fll 
humors ; the care of the body, the pleasure of good 
cheer, and the least shadow of vain-glory, were utter- 
ly banished. Their whole employment was to cry 
day and night to our Lord, and no voice was heard 
in this company but that of prayer. There were some 
who, beating their breasts as fiercely as if they were 
knocking at the gates of heaven, said, Judge, full 
of compassion, open to us by thy mercy that gate 
which our sins has shut against us. Another said, 
Show thy face to us, Lord, and * make known thy 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 161 

salvation.' Psalm xcvii. 4. Another said, *Eii 
lighten them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow 
of death .' Luke i. 79. Another said, let thv mer- 
cies, Lord, prevent us speedily, ' for we are become 
a reproach to our neighbor.' Psalm Ixxviii. 4. 
Others said, Perhaps it will please God one day to 
be reconciled to us, and to behold us with a favora- 
ble eye ; perhaps we shall one day hear that voice, 
which will say, to ' them that are bound, come forth : 
and to them that are in darkness, show yourselves.' 
Isai, xlix'. 6. 

" They had always death present before their eyes, 
and speaking to one another they said, * What will 
Defall us at that last hour, and what shall our end 
be ? Will God revoke the just judgment we have 
deserved ? Shall our prayers have had force enough 
to ascend to the throne of the Divine Majesty ? 
Shall they be found worthy to be there received ? 
Shall they have advantaged us ? and by what merit 
shall they be applied to us ? Shall it be true, that 
coming forth of our mouths^ still altogether unclean 
and polluted, they have, nevertheless, found favor, 
before the Lord ? Who can tell, whether our good 
angels, to whose custody God has committed us, are 
here about us, or whether the stench of our sins has 
driven them away?' And others answered these de- 
mands, saying : Who knows, brethren, as heretofore 
the Ninivites said, (Jonas iii. 9.) whether our Lord 
will not pardon us, whether he will not turn the eyes 
of his mercy towards us, and deliver us from death, 
14« 



162 THE MEMORIAL OF 

after we have invocated him with perseverance, even 
to the end of our lives ? For he is merciful, and our 
tears and labors will appease him. Let us run, 
brethren, let us run ; for we have need to run, and 
to run with all our force, that we may get to the 
place from whence we are fallen. Let us run always 
towards that mark ; let us not spare our filthy flesh ; 
let us revenge on it the excesses it has committed ; 
and let us make it bear the punishments it has 
made us deserve. 

" This is what these true penitents said, and the 
exterior state of their bodies no less expressed the 
interior sorrow of their souls. Their countenances 
represented rather dead than living persons; their 
eyes were dry, and sunk into their heads; the flesh 
of their cheeks appeared shrivelled, and, as it were, 
parched with the scalding of their tears ; the hair of 
their eye-lids was fallen away by reason of their 
weeping ; their knees were hardened like a cameFs 
skin by their continual prayer ; their breasts appear- 
ed bruised with blows, and their lungs were so pre- 
judiced by them, that their spittle was always seen 
mingled with blood. These blessed criminals be- 
sought their superior, who might indeed be consid- 
ered as an angel amongst men, that he would load 
their necks and hands with chains, that he would 
put irons on their feet, and let them remain in this 
condition till the day they should be laid in the 
grave^ of which also they thought themselves xu^ 
worthy. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 163 

" But when the last hour of any of these peni- 
tents approached, it was a far more dreadful specta- 
cle to see the actions and motions of their compan- 
ions at that instant ; for they encompassed him on 
all sides, and with hanging down heads, sad looks, 
and mournful words, said to him : How dost thou 
find thyself now, dear brother ? What are thy 
thoughts ? What dost thou say ? What is thy hope ? 
What dost thou think will become of thee ? Hast 
thou obtained what thou soughtest with so many 
labors ? Dost thou see that the haven of salvation is 
open for thee ? dost thou receive any pledge or cer- 
tain assurance of it ? Does not thy heart perceive 
some new light, and does it not hear some voice 
within it, saying to it, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee ; 
or, * Thy faith has made thee whole ;' {Matt ix. 2 
and 22) or, on the contrary, tell us, if thou hearest 
not these terrible words, * The wicked shall be turn- 
ed into hell, and all nations that forget God ;' (^Psalm 
ix. 18) or these others, 'Bind his hands and feet, 
and cast him into the exterior darkness ;' (^Matt. xxii. 
13) or these, * The wicked shall not see the glory of 
God.' Isai. xxvi. 10. What sayest thou, brother? 
Speak freely to us for our instruction. We conjure 
thee to do it, dear brother, to the end we may learn 
by thy example what we must one day expect ; for 
thy suit is now come to an end ; thy cause will soon 
be decided ; the judgment thou shalt receive will be 
for eternity, and never will be changed ; we wait 
what will be the event of ours, which is yet doubtful 



104 THE MEMORIAL Oi 

and uncertain. Some answered to these demands, 
' Blessed be the Lord, who has not suffered us to be 
a prey to their teeth.' Psalm cxxiii. 6. Others 
answered with more sorrow and grief, Wo be to the 
soul which has not faithfully kept the vows of her 
holy profession, for now is the hour in which she 
shall know what is prepared for her to all eternity. 

" I confess, that having heard and seen all these 
things, and compared my sluggishness with their 
sufferings, I wanted but little of falling into despair : 
for what, think you, is the situation and structure of 
this monastery ? It is nothing but obscurity, stench, 
and filthiness ; all is there hideous and loathsome. 
Thus it is not without reason called a prison and an 
abode of criminals, since one cannot so much as look 
on it without weeping, and entering into the thoughts 
of a true penance. 

" All this will perhaps appear incredible or im- 
possible to the sluggish or negligent ; but true peni- 
tents, and those who know what the happiness is 
they have lost by sin, will judge otherwise of it : for 
the soul which finds herself guilty of having broken 
the covenant and solemn treaty she has made with 
her God, and remembers, that with the peace and 
friendship of the Lord, she has lost the inestimable 
treasures of his grace, the consolations of the Holy 
Ghost, and has quenched the fire of charity, which 
heretofore produced in her such sweet tears, conceives 
so violent a sorrow for her offences, that she not only 
iuffers all these labors with patience, but wouJd in- 



A CIIRTSTIAN LIFE. 165 

finitely augment them, and even crucify herself, if it 
were lawful for her so to do. Such were these blessed 
criminals, or rather these holy fathers, when they re- 
membered their past happiness, and all the sweet and 
pious exercises they had heretofore employed them- 
selves in, saying with the holy man Job, ' Who will 
grant me, that I may be according to the months 
past, according to the days in which God kept me ; 
when his lamp shined over my head, and I walked 
by his light in darkness ; as I was in the days of my 
youth, when Grod was secretly in my tabernacle; 
when the Almighty was with me, and my servants 
round about me ; when I washed my feet with but- 
ter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil ? Job 
xxix. 2, 3, &c. 

'* It was thus they called to mind their past hap- 
piness, and looking back on all the heavenly favors 
they had received, they wept bitterly, and melting 
wholly into tears, said, * Where is now that first puri- 
ty of our prayers ? where is that confidence with which 
we offered them to God V where are those so tender 
and sweet tears which streamed from our eyes in the 
midst of the bitterness and contrition of our hearts ? 
where is that entire chastity of body and soul, which 
made our principal glory ? where is that perfect loy- 
alty and obedience we had for our superior ? what is 
become of that heavenly force and that efficacy we 
observed in the success of our prayers ? All these 
things have disappeared, and vanished like smoke/ 
And uttering these words, the sorrow for their loss. 



166 THE MEMORIAL OF 

and the horror they had of themselves, grew so 
great that they begged of God he would send them 
during this life all the torments in the world, to be 
revenged on their bodies for the evils they were the 
cause of: some desired of him violent diseases ; 
others, to be deprived of their sight, and become ob- 
jects of misery to the eyes of the world ; and others, 
to be struck with a palsy, which should render all 
their limbs lame and useless, that they might by 
present miseries escape those future ones they appre- 
hended. 

"In fine, brethren, I know not how I was able to 
3ontinue so long among such terrible spectacles, and 
to endure the sight of so many torments and so 
many tears ; I staid there thirty days, wholly aston- 
ished at what I saw, which being ended, I returned 
to visit the superior who governed this monastery. 
He seeing me quite altered, and wholly transported, 
and comprehending the cause of my amazement, 
said to me with his usual sweetness, * And well, Fa- 
ther, have you seen the labors of these generous 
combatants ?' * Yes, Father,' answered I to him, * I 
have not only seen them, but admired them also ; 
and esteem them much more happy who, having fal- 
len, thus bewail their sins, than those, who, having 
never fallen, bewail not themselves at all ; because 
their fall seems to me, through an admirable effect 
of grace, to have been an occasion of their more 
happy and more glorious rising again.' " S. Joan. 
Clim. grad. 5. ait. 4, d^ seq. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 167 

St. Climachus tells us not this on the report of 
another ; he faithfully represents the things he saw 
with his own eyes ; and though this relation appears 
a little too long, T thought myself obliged not to omit 
any thing in it, as well for your benefit, as for seve- 
ral other reasons. The first is, that men may be eon- 
founded and humble themselves exceedingly, seeing 
the cold and dull penances of this time compared 
with the fervor and rigor of past ages. The second, 
that we may see how far the charity which the Holy 
Ghost has for us, goes ; what the strength, and what 
the lights are, which his grace keeps always in rea- 
diness for all the faithful ; and may hope that, as he 
has communicated it freely to all those who went be- 
fore us, he will neither refuse it to those who are 
with us, nor to those that shall come after us, if they 
persevere in works of penance, as these ancient fa- 
thers did. The third, that being grounded on so 
solid a hope, and strengthened by the example of 
these saints, we may be stirred up to attempt some- 
thing more considerable than what we do ; since, in 
effect, their bodies were no otherwise framed than 
ours ; nor had they any other &od, nor any other 
assistance in their labors than what we have ; ana 
that setting before you hard and difficult things, you 
may be the less discouraged to embrace those which 
are easier. 

It is nevertheless true, that no man ought to be 
dismayed, though he enters not at first into that high 
perfection of which these saints have left us ac ex- 



168 THE MEMORIAL OF 

ample ; for, as in the body there are many members of 
which some are more, and others less honorable, and 
as in heaven there are many mansions, of which 
some are higher, and others lower; so in the church 
there are different degrees of merit, different institu- 
tions, and different sorts of penance, that dispose men 
for them ; and that, in fine, what is necessary in one 
manner of life, is not in another. Neither is it ab- 
solutely necessary we should attempt at first what 
great saints have practised ; many of their actions 
are proposed to us rather to be admired than imi- 
tated. What becomes a giant is not fit for a dwarf; 
and what serves only to exercise great souls, would 
ruin those that are weak. 



CHAPTER XI. 

On the three principal Works by which we satisfy 

God, 

Since painful and laborious works are also of their 
own nature satisfactory, we shall, to follow the doc- 
trine of the church and of the saints, establish three 
sorts of satisfactory works ; to wit, fasting, alms, and 
prayer. For these three things, besides their being 
holy and efficacious, are also not to be performed 
without giving some pain to our flesh, which thus, 
by the feeling of pain, satisfies Grod for the criminal 
pleasure it took in sinning ; moreover, as there aro 



I 



X CHRISTIAN LIFE. 169 

three things in the power of men, with which they 
commonly offend Grod, to wit, their wealth, their 
body, and their soul ; so it is fit they should make 
him a generous sacrifice of them, consecrating their 
estates by liberal alms, their bodies by rigorous fasts, 
and their souls by continual prayers. It is also a 
means to accomplish in some sort all that justice re- 
quires, since, generally speaking, sin offends either 
God, our neighbor, or ourselves : now these three 
virtues regard these three objects, for by fasting the 
body is chastised, by alms our neighbor is comforted, 
and by prayer God is honored. 

SECTION I. 

He that desires sincerely and with all his heart to 
satisfy God, must place his principal care in the 
exercise of these three works, and first begin by fast- 
ing. We have said that the pain it brings with it, 
satisfies for the pleasure which has been taken in sin, 
and that it inflicts a just punishment on our flesh, 
which is usually the cause of all our diseases. More- 
over, as Saint Bernard says, " Whilst we by fasting 
abstain from lawful things, we obtain pardon for 
those that are unlawful ; and thus with a short fast, 
which lasts but for a moment, we redeem the eternal 
fasts which are suffered in hell ; for one only mortal 
sin deserves hell. In that woful place there is no 
food tasted. The rich glutton begs but only one- 
drop of water, and in so many ages it is not given 
him. In that place is no comfort to be found, and 

15 



170 THE MEMORIAL OF 

miseries have no limits. Happy then is the fast 
which secures us from the fasts and torments that 
never shall have an end." The same saint adds, 
that " fasting not only washes away sin, but that it 
also cuts off the root of all vices ; that it not only 
obtains pardon for our faults, but also procures us 
grace ; that it not only effaces past sins, but pre- 
serves us from those we might commit in time to 
come." St. Peter de Ravenna expresses the excel- 
lency of fasting by wonderful epithets. He calls it 
" the palace of God, the camp of Jesus Christ, the 
wall of the Holy Ghost, the ensign of faith, the 
mark of charity, the standard of holiness." And St 
Augustin assures us, that "fasting purifies souls, 
raises the understanding, subdues the flesh to the 
spirit, makes a contrite and humble heart, drives 
away the darkness of concupiscence, cools the heat 
of impurity, and kindles the light of charity ; that 
fasting moderates our desires, mortifies our passionisi, 
instructs our life, and puts bounds to our covetous- 
ness. Fasting is allied to all virtues ; poverty ac- 
knowledges it for her brother, penance for her son, 
charity for her mother, prayer for her most faithful 
companion ; it is the destroyer of self-love, the pre- 
server of our health, and one of the most sure and 
most powerful means to reconcile us to God, and to 
obtain us his graces." By fasting, the Nini\ates 
stopped the just indignation which God bad conceiv- 
ed against them. Jonas iii. 10. By fasting, the 
children of Israel, humbling their souls before God, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 171 

found assistance in their necessities. 1 Kings vii. 
6. 3y fasting the three children in the fiery fur- 
nac3 were defended from the fury of the king of 
Babylon. Dan. i. 8, 12. By fasting Elias was ta- 
ken up in the fiery chariot, (4 Kings ii.) Moses 
received the law, (Bxod. xxiv. 28.) and the Son of 
Grod prepared himself to preach the gospel, {Matt, iv, 
2.) though he had no need of it, but only to give us 
an example. 

Let those then who desire to satisfy God, and take 
revenge on their sins, that they may enjoy all these 
advantages, arm themselves with a holy hatred 
against themselves ; that is, against their own flesh ; 
let them execute justice on it ; let them punish its 
excesses by fastings, watchings, disciplines, hair- 
cloths, coarse apparel, hard lying, and all other aus- 
terities they can. Thus they will not only give to 
God the satisfaction which is due to him, but will 
triumph also over the most powerful of their enemies, 
and render their bodies and souls living temples of 
the Holy Ghost. Govern yourselves, nevertheless, 
in these exercises, with great prudence ; take coun- 
sel of the wise ; use them with moderation according 
to their advice, and take heed lest, aiming to destroy 
an enemy, you destroy yourselves. Chastise the flesh, 
but preserve to your bodies the strength they stand in 
need of to the service of God. He commands in his 
law, that in all sacrifices there should be ofiered salt, 
to teach us, that in these which are spiritual sacri- 
fices, we must always mix wisdom and discretion. 



112 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Many pious souls, for want of thoroughly weighing 
tliis consideration, have ruined their health, and 
stopped in the midst of their career ; for being 
obliged, in order to their recovery, to omit the prac- 
tice of these holy exercises, they have unfortunately 
found themselves gone much backward in virtue, 
which is an attendant an the faithfulness and fervor 
wherewith they are undertaken. 

SECTION II. 

On the Second, which is Alms. 
But, brethren, fasting must not go alone ; giving 
of alms must be its faithful companion, and if you 
will have it beneficial to you, the works of mercy 
must go along with it. St. Augustin says excel- 
lently, that " fasting, without charity and alms, is 
like a lamp which hath no oil." And in another 
place, speaking to the faithful, he says, " Brethren, 
give alms and your prayers shall be heard ; Jesus 
Christ will help you to amend your lives, he will 
pardon you your past sins, he will deliver you from 
future evils, and he will give you eternal good.things." 
On this subject St. Peter de Ravenna has also these 
excellent words : " Though fasting takes away the 
weakness left by sin, moderates the passions of the 
flesh, and cuts off many occasions which make us fall 
into disorder, it nevertheless restores not health 
without the assistance of mercy, charity, and alms.'' 
"Fasting," adds he, "cures the wounds of sin, but it 
takes not away wholly the scar without the prccioun 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 173 

balm of alms." The holy man Tobias teaches us, 
that " alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and 
will not suffer the soul to go into darkness." Tob. 
iv. 11. Ecclesiasticus affirms, that "as the water 
quenches fire, so alms resisteth sin." Ecdes. iii. 33. 
And St. Ambrose says, that " the force of alms is 
wonderful ; it is a living spring, which with its wa- 
ters quenches the flames of our vices, and by its effu- 
sion, as that of a great river, puts out the fire of our 
sins ; so that, though God be offended, though he be 
justly provoked to wrath, he pardons, for the sake 
of their alms, those whom he had resolved to punish 
for their offences. And St. Augustin says^ that " as 
the fire of hell is quenched by the wholesome water 
of baptism, so the burning heats of our sins are al- 
layed by alms and other works of justice ; insomuch 
that the pardon of our sins, which is granted us only 
once in baptism, is daily, as in a new baptism, im- 
parted to us by the means of alms." It is true that 
this comparison does not hold in all its parts ; but it 
is, however, a great commendation to alms, that it 
may in something be compared to the saving waters 
of baptism, which is the source and origin of the 
spiritual life. Wherefore the prophet l)aniel finds 
no remedy to deliver king Nebuchodonosor from the 
terrible judgment heaven had pronounced against 
him, but by counselling him to have recourse to the 
sacred anchor of alms. " king," says the prophet 
to him, " take my counsel, redeem thy sins with aims, 
a,ad endeavor to obtain the pardon of thy iniquities 
15* 



174 THE MEMORIAL OF 

by works of mercy towards the poor." Dan. iv. 27. 
For he well knew that there is nothing more preva- 
lent with Grod, or more likely to incline him to show 
mercy, than our exercising mercy towards our fel- 
low-creatures. *' In what measure you shall mete, it 
shall be measured unto you again." Mark iv. 24. 
Wherefore at the last day works of charity are so 
much esteemed, that on them are declared the judg- 
ment of our life, and the decision of our eternity. 
St. Augustin thus explains this evangelical truth :' '' It 
is written," says this saint, " Redeem your sins with 
alms, because in effect our Lord loves the charitable 
above all things, and recompenses his elect princi- 
pally in consideration of the relief they have given 
to the miserable ;" as if he should more clearly say, 
" It is a difficult matter diligently to examine your 
life, and use mercy towards you ; nevertheless go, 
enter into the eternal kingdom ; for I was hungry, and 
ye gave me to eat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me 
to drink ; so that the kingdom of heaven is not given 
to you because you have not sinned, but because you 
have redeemed your sins with alms." As, on the 
contrary, he will say to the wicked, ^' Go, ye accurs- 
ed, into eternal fire, not only because you have 
sinned, but also because you have neglected to re- 
deem your sins by alms ; for if you had at least used 
this remedy, it would have delivered you from the 
punishment that is falling on you." Serm. 50 de 
Temp. St. Peter de Ravenna, passes yet fartherj 
when he says, *' It is an admirable thing to see ho 






A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 175 

pleasing to God the relief is that is given to the poor, 
since that in the kingdom of heaven, in the presence 
of angels^ and in that great assembly of men raised 
from the dead, there is no mention of the death that 
Abel suffered, nor of the world which Noah pre- 
served, nor of the faith that Abraham had, nor of 
the law which Moses gave, nor of the cross to which 
St. Peter was fastened ; but only of the bread that 
is given to the poor." And St. Chrysostom, delight- 
ed, with the beauty and power of this virtue, says 
thus in one of his sermons : " Alms-givings is a 
friend of God ; she is always about him ; she obtains 
graces for whom she will ; she breads the bands of 
ain ; she drives away darkness ; she stifles the flame 
of our passions ; the gates of heaven are open to her 5 
those that keep them respect her as a queen ; they 
ask not who she is, nor what she seeks ; all go to 
meet her, and receive her with joy ; she is a virgin ; 
she has wings of gold, and her apparel is wonderfully 
glorious ; her countenance is beautiful, and full of 
jiweetness ; her swiftness, and the wings she wears, 
in a moment bring her into God's presence." 

Since this virtue then is of so great efficacy, they 
who design to satisfy God, and obtain of him the 
mercy they desire, must, as the apostle speaks, clothe 
themselves with mercy, {Col. iii. 12.) and take care 
to be adorned with all good works belonging to it ; 
let them have great compassion on the miseries of 
the poor, and relieve them to the utmost of their 
tbility ; if they have not wherewithal otherwise to 



176 THE MEMORIAL OF 

succor them, let them assist them with their counsels, 
their cares, and their prayers ; or if they are wholly 
unable to serve them, let them at least have a fellow- 
feeling for their sufferings; since, as St. Gregory 
says, '' He whose heart is touched with compassion, 
gives no less than he who exercises liberality towards 
the poor : for the one gives his wealth, and the other 
his soul,which is much more precious than all world 
ly wealth." On which, before I finish this point, I 
must give you an important advice taken out of St. 
Augustin, who says, " That of all the works of mer- 
cy, with which we may obtain pardon of our sins, 
there is none greater, or more prevalent, than will- 
ingly to pardon those who have offended us." St. 
Peter Chrysologus expresses the same thing in these 
words : " Consider, brethren, that you cannot be with- 
out sin, and that you always desire your sins should 
be forgiven you ; if you will then be forgiven, you 
must forgive, and so know that your happiness is in 
your own hands, and that in pardoning others, you 
pardon yourselves." St. Cesarius likewise says al- 
most the same : " If you have not wherewithal to 
relieve the captives, or clothe the naked, be at least 
very careful to banish out of your heart all kind of 
ill-will against your neighbor; render not to your' 
enemies evil for evil ; on the contrary, love them, 
and pray for them. Living thus, ground yourself 
securely on the mercy and promises of God, and fear 
not to say to him with confidence, * Give me, Lord, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 



177 



for I have given : pardon me, because I have par- 
doned.' " 

SECTION III. 
Of the Third which is Prayer. 

The third, and perhaps most necessary of the 
works that are called satisfactory, is prayer : this not 
only serves to fulfil the third part of penance, which 
is satisfaction, but is especially useful to obtain the 
first and most important, which is contrition ; since 
by prayer God often infuses the spirit of contrition 
into the souls of sinners, by prayer they often obtain 
the remission of their offences ; and we see in the 
gospel, that on the sole consideration of their prayer, 
pardo^ was granted to the publican ancf the prodigal 
child. Wherefore a prophet exhorts us not to seek 
before God any other remedies for our evils : " Take 
with you words, and return to the Lord, and say to 
him : take away all iniquity, and receive the good : 
and we will render the calves of our lips." Osee 
xiv. 3. Thus is God sought in prayer ; by this he 
graciously hears us : if he appears sometimes inexo- 
rable, it is only towards the proud and obstinate ; but 
he is benign towards the humble and penitent. Never 
was any one seen to pray in this manner before God, 
but he felt at the same time in his soul some sweet 
breathing of his grace, and some assured pledge of 
his clemency ; and to the end it may not be doubted 
ho would engage his word for it in the prophet JoeL 



1V8 THE MEMORIAL OP 

who says, " Every one that calleth upon the name of 
the Lord, shall be saved." Joel ii. 32. 

But to the end this prayer may the better ascend 
on high, there must be given to her the two wings 
of which we have spoken, fasting and aims ; it is 
with them she flies swiftly, and stops not till she is 
come before the throne of God : these are sisters, 
which must not be separated ; they mutually assist, 
and lend the hand to each other. Mercy, as St. John 
Climachus says, causes prayer not to come empty 
into God's presence, and if we show mercy to those 
that stand in need of it, we shall incline God to 
show mercy to us. " If you have a love for prayer," 
says this saint, " you will without doubt also have a 
love for mercy: for the first will cause God to hear 
you mercifully, because you have for his sake favor- 
ably heard your neighbor." Grad. 28, aH. 40. As 
for fasting, it is certainly a powerful assistant to 
prayer ; it disposes the soul to do well, and freeing 
the body of the heaviness caused by the superfluity 
of meats, renders it lighter to mount towards heaven. 
Wherefore prayer joined to fasting, besides its be- 
coming thereby more satisfactory, is much more pure 
and spiritual ; for, as the same saint teaches us, " the 
soul of him that fasts, prays with sobriety and atten- 
tion ; but the soul of an intemperate and sensual per- 
son, is always full of imaginations and evil thoughts." 
S, Joan. Glimac. Grad, 14, art. 27. 

As then fasting helps prayer, so prayer helps fast- 
ing; since, as St. Bernard says, "prayer gives 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 179 

Strength to fast, and fasting obtains grace to pray.** 
The spirit of prayer, and the sweetness found in it, 
animate our hearts to mortify the flesh, each of these 
virtues undertaking what is proper to it, in the sane- 
tification of men. And, to speak with St. Jerome, 
*' by fasting the vices of the body are cured, and by 
prayer the infirmities of the soul." 

Thence we may conclude, that prayer is not only 
one of the satisfactory works, which is what we prin- 
cipally endeavor to show in this place, but also that 
it is meritorious, that it is impetratory, and that it 
causes and nourishes devotion : by prayer, as it is 
satisfactory, we discharge the debts contracted by our 
sins ; as it is meritorious, we are rendered worthy by 
it to increase in grace and obtain glory ; as it is im- 
petratory, we obtain for it what we ask for with hn- 
mility ; and as it is capable to produce in us the spirit 
of devotion, we receive by it new lights ; we begin 
to taste how sweet the Lord is ; good desires are re- 
newed and strengthened in our hearts ; peace and 
quietness are infused into our souls, together with an 
extraordinary courage and zeal to embrace all occa- 
sions of doing good works, which is properly called 
devotion. 

These four so rare and excellent fruits the virtne 
prayer brings with it, and consequently it is of ex- 
treme importance to exercise ourselves in it with 
very much attention and perseverance. But since 
we shall speak of it more at large hereafter, T shall at 
this time content mj'Relf to recommend to you the 



180 THE MEMORIAL 0? 

reading of tlie prayers and considerations you maj 
have already seen, when we treated of contrition; it 
will be good for you to go over them again, and en- 
tertain yourself with them for some days, both before 
and after confession ; they will suffice^ if you make 
the reflection on them that you ought, to excite in 
you a new sorrow for your sins^ and new desires to 
satisfy God : and because there is nothing so power- 
ful to make you enter into these resolutions as the 
consideration of God's benefits and your own sins, aa 
we have already more fully in that place shown, 1 
advise you more particularly to persist in the contem- 
plation of them. After you shall have employed 
some days in this exercise, you may proceed to an- 
other sort of prayer, which shall be hereafter taught 
you in the book we shall make for that purpose ; and 
in this manner varying your exercises, you will re- 
ceive more light, and serve God without difficulty or 
tiring, and with inexpressible ease and joy. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A short Examination of Conscience for those that 
^ confess often. 

Having treated of confession for such persons as 
jseldom confess, I have thought it would not be in- 
convenient to say something of the examen and pre- 
paration to be used by those who more frequently 
eome to this sacrament. These good souls suffer 



A CHRTSTTAN LTFE^, 181 

divers disquiets, and are often molested witli scrnples 
on this occasion : for on the one side believing, and 
certainly knowing, that they are not without sins, 
and on the other side, not knowing how to declare 
them at the time of confession, they are persuaded 
they never confess well. 

This perplexity may arise from two causes : first, 
from its being indeed a difficult matter for men to 
know themselves, and to search thoroughly into the 
writings of their consciences. It was this made a 
\ prophet say, " Who can understand sins ? — ^from my 
Secret ones cleanse me, Lord." Psalm xviii. 13, 
Who knows all the sins into which he falls ? Cleanse 
me, Lord, from the offences that are hidden fron. 
my eyes and understanding. The second cause is, 
that the sins of the just, who, as the wise man says, 
** falls seven times a day," (Prov. iv. 16,) are net 
easily known; they are ordinarily rather sins of 
omission than commission, as we are wont to speak. 
For the understanding of which distinction, it is to 
be observed, that all sins whatever happen one of 
these two ways ; either by committing some evil act, 
as by breaking any of the commandments of God or 
the church ; or by omitting some good work to which 
one is obliged, as by not producing acts of the love 
of Grod, by not fasting, not praying, &c. The first 
are so manifest, that they are easily known, because 
in the committing of them some sensible action must 
have preceded ; the others, which consist not in do- 
ing, but in leaving undone, are more hardly discov- 
16 



182 THE MEMORIAL OF 

ered ; for who can see what is not ? And so it is not 
to be wondered if devout persons, especially when 
they are simple, find not sometimes in them any sins 
of which they may accuse themselves. They are 
bappy enough to fall very seldom into those we term 
sins of commission, and that are easily taken notice 
of: and not discerning sufficiently the others, they 
approach the confessional only with confusion and 
affliction of mind. 

To remedy their troubles, I resolved to frame the 
following memorial, which principally treats of these 
sorts of sins. And because they may be either 
against God, or ourselves^ or our neighbor, we will 
divide them into three parts, according to the negli- 
gence one may be guilty of in respect to these three 
duties. I know that several of these omissions are not 
sometimes so much as a venial sin. They are, never- 
theless, imperfections and defects, and often not with- 
out sin, at least venial ; wherefore those that aim at 
perfection ought not to neglect accusing themselves 
of them. I would not oblige them to do it always, for 
fear of being too long and scrupulous ; but on solemn 
feasts I should advise them to be more full and large 
in declaring things. For other days, let one take 
here what he shall think most proper for the exciting 
in himself a sincere and true sorrow, and the dis* 
charging of his conscience. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 183 

The following regards their former Confessions, 

1. That they did not come to this sacrament with such prepa- 
ration, nor used such care in examining their conscience as they 
ought to have done. 

2. That they have not had so great sorrow and contrition for 
their faults, nor so true and firm a desire to amend, as they ought 
to have. 

3. That they came not to the most holy communion with all 
the purity of conscience, respect, and devotion, they should have 
brought to it; and that after thus having communicated, they 
continued not in that recollection of mind whicn the presence of 
80 high a Guest requires. 

4. That they have not seriously enough, nor with sufficient 
zeal, endeavored the amendment of their lives, and daily advanc- 
ing in our Lord's service ; but, on the contrary, have continued 
in a certain coldness and negligence, unbeseeming Christians ; or 
if, instead of going forward in the way of virtue, they have rather 
returned to that of vice. They may afterwards enter more par- 
ticularly into the examination of their faults, and keep the foi- 
lowing order : 

Against God, 

We are obliged, in respect of God, to hare in us these three 
virtues, which are named faith, hope, and charity : — and one may 
accuse himself in this manner of the defects men usually fall into 
concemiiig them. As for charity, examine yourself of not having- 
loved God as you ought, with all your heart and all your soul ; 
and on the contrary, of having too much loved the creatures and 
vanities of this world, forgetting your Creator for them. 

As touching faith, that you have not had so firm a faith as yo« 
ought ; nor have speedily enough rejected the evil thoughts the 
devil may have stirred up against it in your understanding. 

As for hope, that you have not returned straight to God, Bor 
have had recourse to him in the necessities and troubles of this 
life, with such confidence as you ought to put in him ; on the 
contrary, that you have been excessively afflicted and discontent- 
ed, which cannot proceed but from a criminal mistrust of his 
power and goodness. 

As touching the intention, examine yourself^ that in the actioni 



184 THE MEMORIAL Of 

which respect God's service, you have not had all the purity of 
heart that is requisite, not having done them for his sake alone, 
but sometimes to comply with decency or custom, sometimes be- 
cause the J have been naturally pleasing to you, or through other 
the like motives and interests. 

Examine yourself also of having been negligent in embracing 
the good inspirations God has given you, and thereby often re- 
sisted the Holy Ghost for fear of enforcing yourself, and taking a 
little pains. This is a very spiritual, and very secret fault, but 
such a one as deserves to have great scruple of conscience made 
of it. 

As also, of not having acknowledged God's benefits as yois 
ought ; of not having given him thanks enough for them ; of not 
having sufficiently considered and esteemed them, so as t-o be- 
come more zealous in the service of him from whom you received 
them. 

Examine yourself also of having forgotten God, and of having 
been sometimes in such condition as if he had been quite banished 
out of your heart ; whereas you ought always to walk in his 
presence, and have him always before your eyes. 

Examine yourself also of not having received with patience the 
troubles and afflictions which God has sent you ; of not having 
acknowledged that they came from his hand for your good, and 
of not having thanked him for them. This is an important point, 
and fit to be particularized, if you find in yourself any remorse of 
conscience concerning it. 

You may also, without fear of lying, accuse yourself of not 
having behaved yourself at holy Mass, at divine service, in con- 
secrated places, and in the presence of the most blessed sacra- 
ment, with such respect and devotion as you ought. 

Against One^a Self, 

Man is composed of several parts ; of the body with all ita 
senses ; of the soul with all its desires ; ot the spirit with all ita 
faculties, which are the understanding, will, and memory; and 
80 he may have sinned against the right and order which ought 
to be observed in the use of all these things. 

Examine yourself then first, of not having treated your body 
in eating, drinking, sleeping, clothing, and all other thingS; wiUk 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE 185 

the rigor and severity you ought: but, on the contrary, of having; 
Deen too indulgent to it, and too great a lover of yourself. 

Of not having kepi your imagination and exterior senses within; 
the strict bounds of their duty ; of having given them too mueh^ 
liberty ; of having suffered them to wander extraordinarily ia- 
conversations, and on other things that have diverted your eyet- 
and ears ; and so having drawn into your imagination useless and: 
frivolous matters, which have hindered the recollection of year 
mind and attention in prayer. 

Of not having mortified your passions, and tamed your owB' 
will as you ought ; on the contrary, of having almost continually 
obeyed it, and always consented to its irregularities ; of not hav 
ing been so humble in your heart and actions as you ought; of 
not having esteemed yourself so vile and miserable as you are, 
Dor treated yourself as such ; of having been slothful and negfik 
gent in your prayers ; of having often interrupted the course crf 
them on' slight occasions ; of not having performed them with tbe? 
attention and recollection you ought. 

Against one^a Neighbor, 

Examine yourself, that you have not, according to God's com- 
mand, loved your neighbor as you would have others love yon. 

That you have not in his necessities given him the assistance' 
and relief he might expect from vou. 

That you have n a naa sucfl compassion or* his miseries, nor 
prayed so much to God for him as you ought. 

That you have not been suflBciently sorrowful for the church's- 
calamities, occasioned by wars, heresies, and other evils that rise 
up against her ; and that you have not recommended her neces- 
rities to God as much as you could, and were obliged to do. 

If you have superiors, accuse yourself of not having obeyed*^ 
them and honored them as you ought ; and if you have children,. 
servants, or others under your tuition and government, accuse 
yourself of not having instructed them, chastised them, or pro- 
vided for them what was necessary ; and, in fine, of not having. 
taken so much care of them as you were obliged to do. 

Of Sins of Commission. 
After you have thus examined yourself of sins of omission, yoir 
may examine yourself of those of commission, setting before yon, 
16* 



186 THl MEMORIAL OF A CHRISTIAN LCTl. 

for this purpose, the ten (Kmnnandments of Qod, and the 
deadly sins ; and examining your conscience upon them. 

In fine, you ought particularly to consider your condition, to 
weigh the things you are engaged to by it, and examine yourself 
of all the faults you may have committed against the duties and 
obligations annexed to it j as, a religious person, of not having 
well kept his vows or his rule ; a judge, of taking bribes ; and 8o 
ot others. 

After examining yourself, endeavor to have a true sorrow for 
these and all other sins that you cannot call to mind, and then 
proceed to confession; after which you may end with these 
•words, which are ordinarily used in the church : I am heartily 
^sorry for all these sins, and for all other sins into which I hav« 
lallen by my thoughts, wwds, or actions, through my fault, 
through my fault, through my most grievous &ult. I beg 
im of Qod ; and of jou, Faih^, penance and absolatton* 



% Pmorial of a d^ristian fife. 



BOOK III. 
ON HOLY COAiMUNION, 



CHAPTER 1. 

How toe ought to prepare ourselves for it. 

Having already observed to you the most impor* 
tant things that may dispose you to make a good 
confession, I come now to what concerns holy com- 
munion. Since these two sacraments have such a 
connexion, that the one ordinarily follows the other, 
it would be very beneficial, and of great edification' 
to your souls, to treat here of the virtue and wonder- 
ful effects of this adorable sacrament ; but because 
there are many things to be said on this subject, and 
this memorial not permitting me to enter into mat- 
ters requiring so long a discourse, I shall content 
myself to entertain you with the preparations neces- 
sary for the approaching this divine mystery, since 
this disposition is of such importance, that the grace 
given to him who receives the sacrament, will be 
proportionable to the state in which he shall present 

187 



188 THE MEMORIAL CfW 

himself to receive it. This sacrament is of an in- 
finite virtue, because it contains in it Jesus Christ 
whole and entire, who is the fountain of all grace, 
and also makes us partakers of the fruits and merits 
3f his passion, which is of infinite value ; but he must 
find souls prepared, and the more excellent the pre- 
paration shall be, the greater will the grace be we 
shall receive. He who goes to the sea to fetch 
water, takes as much as the vessel he carries along 
with him can contain. There will be no want of 
water in the sea, which is an infinite abyss ; but he 
will have only according to the greatness of his ves- 
sel. This is what befalls all those who come to this 
divine sacrament, which is the sea of all graces, and 
thus is fulfilled in them what David says : " Open 
thy mouth wide and I will fill it." Psalm Ixxx. 11. 

It is also a maxim in philosophy, that causes act 
according to the disposition they find in the matter. 
The fire burns easily in dry wood, but not in green ; 
because the one is disposed to receive the heat and 
flame, and the other is not. And thus, as Jesus 
Christ, who is the general cause of all graces, is in 
this sacrament ; so he operates in the souls of those 
who receive him, conformably to the holy dispositions 
he finds in them. We daily see these effects, and 
we know by experience, that they who celebrate the 
holy sacrifice and communicate often, receive as 
much benefit by it, as they bring zeal with them 
to it 

But it is not only the hope of enjoying the fruit« 



A OHttlSTIAN LIFB. l8ll 

of this sacrament that should induce you to prepare 
yourself well for the reception of it ; you ought to 
fear being rigorously punished if you neglect it. It 
is a general rule in all the sacraments of the law of 
grace, that as they are highly profitable to those who 
receive them worthily, so they are occasions of the 
greatest evils to those who approach them unworthily. 
A holy doctor says to this purpose, that as the sun, 
water and air very much help to make plants grow 
and fructify, when they are lively and well-rooted ; 
and that, on the contrary, if they are dying and not 
well-rooted, the same causes make them more speedily 
wither or rot ; so this most blessed sacrament, which 
operates far more powerfully in grace, than the water, 
sun, and air do in nature, causes those souls that are 
vigorous, and in which charity has already taken 
root, to increase in virtue ; as, on the contrary, those 
that have not these qualifications, instead of profiting 
by their frequent communions, are more hardened 
and blinded : not because of the sacrament, which 
is altogether holy, but by their coming to it ill-pre- 
pared. And this effect is wholly agreeable to the 
nature of this sacrament, which is of itself the spir- 
itual food of souls ; for as ordinary meats sustain 
and nourish the bodies that are in health, and, on 
the contrary are very prejudicial to those that are 
sick and filled with bad humors, and in this condi- 
tion have more need of abstinence than nourishment, 
the same does this divine sacrament ; it gives life, 
yea true life to some, and occasionally gives death to 
others, according to their different dispositions. 



190 THE MEMORIAL OP 

You will ask me now, what the preparation is 
which this mystery requires. I advise you to cast 
your eyes on the works of nature, of which God is 
the author, as he is of those of grace. You will ob- 
serve there that the more excellent natural forms are, 
the greater disposition they require. For example, 
the food is digested and prepared in the stomach to 
go to the liver, where it is converted into blood, 
which is a more noble form, to be carried to the 
heart ; and, in fine, in this place it takes a more re- 
quisite one to pass to the brain, where it receives its 
last perfection. Thus it is purified, and refined, as I 
may say, in each of these parts, to acquire a better 
form, and with so just and regular an order, that the 
perfection of the preceding form is a disposition for 
that which follows, and that which is the limit and 
end of the one, serves for a preparation to the other. 
The same conduct and proportion is found in spir- 
itual things, and particularly in the sacraments, 
which require so much more preparation in the re- 
ceivers, as they are of greater excellence and dignity. 
There are some, the worthy receiving of which re- 
quires only to be in the state of grace ; but this of 
which we speak, being the highest and holiest of all, 
because God himself is present in it, there is another 
required to serve as a preparation for it, which is ac- 
tual confession, if the soul finds itself guilty of any 
mortal sin, or the least doubt of mortal sin. Besides 
this, there is devotion requisite for the more holy re- 
ceiving of it ; but an efiiective and not common de« 



A CHlUSrrAN LIFE. 19i 

votion, accompanied with an exceeding reverence of 
this great mystery^ and arising from the considera- 
tion of such things as pertain to God. To put our- 
selves in this state, we must at that time banish from 
our souls all the imaginations and all the cares of 
worldly affairs, to the end we may with more liberty, 
and without hindrance, fix our hearts on God. It is 
not enough that you be cleansed from all sin, but you 
must also endeavor to be free from all thoughts, and 
all solicitousness, which may put the least obstacle 
to the attention and devotion it requires of you. 
And this is wonderfully well represented to us by the 
solitariness of Moses, when he went up on Mount 
Sinai to speak with God. He was commanded to go 
up alone, and that there should not all about the 
mountain be seen any man or beast, great or small; 
and God added also to his solitariness, a thick cloudy 
and darkness, in which Moses was to communicate 
with him ; (Exod. xix. 16.) to the end that being to 
discourse with God, the solitariness and cloud might 
take from him the sight of all created things. Yon 
ought to imitate this solitariness, if you will wor- 
thily draw nigh to our Lord. You must go to him 
with a heart so solitary, so recollected, and so ab- 
stracted from earthly things, so elevated, and so ab- 
sorbed in God, as if at that moment you thought 
there was none but God and you in the world. 
Which is again represented by another action of the 
same prophet, when he put off" his shoes to walk on 
the ground where God made his presence appi^ar; 



192 THE MEMORIAT. OF 

(^Exod, xiii. 5,) to let you understand, that when 
you would go to him, you must strip yourself of all 
the hurry of perishable and terrestrial thiags, with 
which you are usually surrounded. 

Such a purity will seem extraordinary, or perhaps 
impossible, by reason of the corruption of our nature ; 
but it is not impossible to charity or divine grace . 
" love is strong as death," says the spouse in the 
Canticles; (^Cant. viii. 6.) to show that as the death 
of the body makes it become insensible to all worldly 
things, so perfect charity in such manner possesses 
the heart of man, and raises it up to God, as to maV<» 
it forget all other things. 

It is true, this spiritual death, and this so general 
disengagement is not given to all ; it is a particular 
privilege of the spouse ; (that is, of those holy souls 
which deserve to be called by that name ;) the 
church, nevertheless, proposes it to all, because 
of the dignity of this sacrament, which, being the 
bread of angels, requires the purity of angels in those 
who eat of it. It is your part then to employ all 
your endeavors to obtain it ; God will be contented 
with the share you can have in it ; and if you, on 
your part, do all that lies in you to forget all things 
at the time of communion, and to approach it with 
attention and a sincere and actual devotion, you have 
every reason to hope well of the divine mercy. I 
believe, nevertheless, it will be very fit to let you un- 
derstand things more particularly ; and if you desire 
tt) present j^ourself at this holy table in the condition 



A CHRISTIAN LIFS. 193 

you ought, spare nothing to adorn your souls with 
the richest ornaments, whioh consist in the qualitiee 
I am going to explain to you. 



CHAPTER II, 

Cf the first thing necessary for Communicating weU, 
which is, Purity of Conscience. 

Know first, that every good disposition cornea 
from heaven, and acknowledge with profound hu- 
mility, that all the cares of men and angels ar« not 
able to give so perfect a preparation as is necessary 
to communicate well, unless Grod's hand intervenes, 
and he particularly grants you his assistance. For 
as none can dispose himself to receive any increase 
of grace without the help of grace, so non« can pre- 
pare himself to receive God as he ought, unless God 
himself vouchsafe to prepare him. Address, your- 
self, therefore, to him with a contrite and humble 
heart, and with fervent desires, that he would be 
pleased to cleanse and adorn the house in which he 
<;ondescends to lodge. When a king, making his pro- 
gress through the country, is obliged to Btay in some 
poor village, he expects not the inhabitants should 
prepare his lodging for him., because he knows their 
poverty is unable to do it ; but he himself sends be- 
fore-hand his furniture, with officers to see that he 
be lodged and provided for comformably to his great- 
neFS, If kings act in this manner, you will have rea- 
17 



194 THE MEMORIAL OF 

son to beseech our Lord, who is " King of Kiagt, 
and Lord of Lords," (Ajpoc. xix. 16.) that since he 
'8 pleased to do you this incomparable favor, to lodge 
in so poor a place as your breast, he will send before 
him his Holy Spirit, with all his gifts and ornaments, 
that by this means the grace of God and his almighty 
power, may prepare the house into which his good- 
ness disdains not to enter. 

This being done, brethren, the first disposition for 
communicating well^ is purity of conscience ; that is, 
tkat we be clean and exempt from all mortal sin. 
" I will wash my hands," says David, " among tbe 
innocent: and will compass thy altar, O Lord.*' 
Psalm XXV. 6. He promises God to wash his hands, 
that is, the filthiness of his sins ; and afterwards pro- 
poses to approach the altar, that is, the table of our 
Ijord. And it is for this reason the apostle uses 
these so terrible threats, speaking to the Corinthians : 
" Whosoever shall eat this bread, or drink the cha- 
lice of the Lord unworthily, he shall be guilty of the 
body and of the blood of the Lord." 1 Cor. xi. 27. 
To teach us by these words, that they who approach 
this mystery with a polluted conscience, commit as 
detestable an offence as that of the Jews, who cru- 
cified Jesus Christ, since both the one and the other 
horribly outrage his body and blood, though in a dif- 
ferent manner. 

But moreover, how can Jesus Christ be joined with 
ria ? and what can be the event of putting together 
two things so contrary and opposite, but the de- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 195 

Btruction of both ? Things which are ( f the same 
nature are easily joined, as water with water, and 
iron with iron ; but two contrary things, as fire and 
water, cannot suffer one another, and the weaker 
must give way to the stronger. Since, then, by re- 
ceiving this sacrament you join yourself with Jesus 
Christ, what can you expect from this union, but the 
ruin of the weaker part ? How can goodness subsist 
with wickedness, purity with filth, humility with 
pride, meekness with wrath, and cruelty with cle- 
mency ? So it is when there is an intent of approach- 
ing Christ; for to be worthy of this divine union, 
Christians must in some sort resemble him, and this 
is what sin absolutely hinders, when it is not cleansed 
by penance. 

All the sins that are called mortal make this 
dreadful divorce. But there are two more danger- 
ous than the rest, and which have a more formal op- 
position to the qualities of this sacrament ; to wit, 
hatred and impurity. As to the first, the eucharist 
is a sacrament of love and union, since all the faithful 
find in it one and the same nourishment, and one and 
the same spirit, which render it one and the same 
thing by love. This is what St. Augustin would 
signify to us when he said, that " our Lord would 
leave us his body and blood in things which, being 
composed of several parts wholly separate from each 
other, are drawn together, and reduced into one sole 
body, as are bread and wine, of which the one is 
noade of several grapes, and the other of several 



196 THE MEMORIAL OF 

graiQS of corn :" to teach us that this sacrament, 
which is given us under these two species, produces 
the same thing in those who receive it, making in 
them one only heart of many hearts, by the commu- 
nication of one and the same spirit. Now if this be 
true, as it cannot be doubted, can any thing be 
imagined more unreasonable, than to come to a sa- 
crament of love and union with a heart separated 
from that of one's brother ? Would not this be the 
same thing as desiring a surgeon to close a wound 
for us, and doing on our side all we can to keep it 
open? And would it not be an absolute want of 
judgment to take this spiritual medicine, the effect 
of which is to cure the wounds of ill-will, and unite 
divided hearts, if one were in a firm resolution to re- 
nounce this grace, and break at the samQ time, by 
dissensions and quarrels, the peace and union it 
ought to cause ? 

If you desire then to avoid this inconvenience, 
never have the boldness to approach this table with- 
out a strong determination to put in effect what our 
Lord ordains us, when he says, " If thou offer thy 
gift at the altar^ and there thou remember that thy 
brother hath any thing against thee, leave there thy 
offering before the altar, and go first and be recon- 
ciled to thy brother, and then coming thou shalt of- 
fer thy gift." Matt. v. 23, 24. It is with this sa- 
tisfaction, which the confessor will well regulate, and 
with as firm a resolution, that you ought to come to 
this heavenly table. If you present yourself there 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 197 

without this preparation, you can expect nothing else 
but that the master of the feast will say to you, 
" Friend, how earnest thou in hither, not having on a 
wedding-garment?" (Matt. xxii. 12.) that is, being 
without charity, which, as the apostle says, " eovereth 
a multitude of sins." 1 Pet, iv. 8. And you have 
great reason to fear that, having nothing to answer 
to this objection, our Lord will pronounce against 
you that severe sentence, " Let him be bound hand 
and foot, and cast into the fire." 

The other sin, which is no less contrary to the 
grace of the sacrament, is impurity : for this sacra- 
ment, which contains the most holy flesh of our Sa- 
viour, formed of the substance of the chastest and 
purest of all virgins, demands so great a purity of 
body and mind, that the saints have believed a noc- 
turnal illusion, caused by the devil in a dream, was a 
sufficient cause to abstain unless obedience, or the 
solemnity of some special feast, obliged a man to do 
otherwise ; or except after this accident be found 
himself no less full of devotion and zeal to commu- 
nicate, than if it had not happened. St. Bernard 
counsels in this case, even not to serve at the holy 
Mass, so much purity does he judge this divine mys- 
tery to require. For if St. Paul advised married 
persons to abstain sometimes from the lawful use of 
the marriage-bed, that they might more devoutly 
apply themselves to prayer, (1 Cor. vii. 5.) how much 
more ought they to be chaste, who, by the partici- 
pating in the holy sacrament, receive God into theii 
17* 



198 THE MEMORIAL Of 

bodies? And if in the old law one unchaste dream 
caused him to whom this dream happened, to be ex- 
cluded for a whole day from the tents and company 
of God's people, (Deut. xxii. 10.) with how much 
more reason ought it to separate us from so strict a 
communication with God himself? 

But it is not only requisite that you be not defiled 
with any mortal sin when you approach this table, 
but you ought also to be exceedingly careful to 
cleanse yourself from venial sins; for though it be 
true, that sins of this nature do not wholly quench 
the fire of charity, it is, notwithstanding, certain that 
they diminish the fervor of devotion, which is the 
first disposition this divine mystery requires. Con- 
fess then before communion, to cleanse yourself of 
this sort of offences ; conceive at least for them all 
the horror and all the repentance you ought ; or en- 
ter into some pious exercises, to recover by this 
means the actual devotion which venial sin had made 
you lose. Those that fail to do some one of these 
things cannot be excused from a criminal negligence, 
which is a very considerable venial sin, and will un- 
doubtedly make them lose much of the fruit and 
comforts of this sacrament, which is an effect they 
ordinarily feel who approach it with this preparation, 
But as for those who have sinned mortally, besides 
the sincere repentance with which their soul must 
be touched, there is required actual confession on 
pain of a new mortal sin, as the council of Trent 
hath expressly defined. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 199 

CHAPTER III. 

Of the second thing necessary for Conimumcatity 
well, which is, Purity of Intention. 

The second thing which is necessary to eomnm- 
nicate worthily, '.& purity of intention ; that is, to do 
this great action for the end for which it ought to be 
done. For as the end is the principal circumstance 
of all our works, so it is that which we ought prin- 
cipally to consider in them, especially in this, which 
is of far greater importance than all others, lest we 
pervert God's designs, and use that for one end 
which he has instituted for another. This doctrine 
is of consequence, and that it may be the better 
understood, it will be necessary to declare the differ- 
ent ends to which those haVe respect who communi- 
cate worthily, and those who communicate unwor- 
thily ; for so that which you ought to aim at, will be 
more easily known. 

If any priest were so unhappy as to be moved 
principally to celebrate Mass for the sake of the 
temporal profit he might expect to receive by it, let 
him remember the two sons of Aaron^ who offered 
sacrifice to God with strange fire ; (^Lev, x. 1.) since 
it is not the fire of divine love that would induce him 
to do his duty, but the heat of covetousness and filthy 
gain. Such should have great reason to dread the 
punishment that befel those sacrilegious wretches, 
who were in a moment devoured by the fire which 
came forth of the sanctuary. There are some lay* 



200 niK BIKMORIAL OF 

persons, who come to communion only for fear of 
punishment^ as many wicked Christians who never 
approach our Lord's table but at Easter, and that 
with as much repugnance as if they were going to 
be put to death. Those ought to consider, that as 
none entered into the feast of king Assuerus with 
base and unseemly apparel, (Esth. it. 2.) so they, by 
these base and servile dispositions, render themselves 
unworthy of this heavenly food : what was instituted 
through love, ought to be taken with love, and it is 
unreasonable to receive with the spirit of a slave, a 
present which God makes us with the goodness of a 
father. There are some that communicate to be like 
others, though they find not in themselves any hun- 
ger after this divine nourishment, nor know what it 
is to amend their lives^ or bring to so holy an action 
the necessary preparations; and others (whom I 
place almost in the same rank) communicate only 
through custom. They have prescribed themselves 
certain set days of coming to the altar, at which they 
will not fail ; and this alone makes all their devo- 
tion. They certainly deceive themselves, and if they 
were truly devout they would consider, that though 
this is a good custom, it is not yet good to communi- 
cate only for custom-sake, but that there are other 
dispositions requisite, without which the fruits of 
communion are not received. There are others, in 
fine, who come to communicate, thinking to find in h 
some spiritual gust, and to seek in the sacrament 
fiome sensible devotion : this is the utmost end iheif 



A CIIllISTIAN LIFE. 201 

pi opose, and in this their devotion is false, because 
it looks not to the end it ought to aim at, which is to 
embrace the cross and mortification of Jesus Christ, 
and to make them more fervent and ready in serv- 
ing God. 

None of these motives are direct ; they are by- 
ways and false doors, by which they rather steal as 
thieves, than receive as faithful servants, their mas- 
ter's favors. Let us enter then by the doors by 
which the saints have entered, and let us endeavor 
to conform ourselves to the intentions they had, 
which were not all of the same sort, as St. Bona- 
venture teaches us in these words : " The intentions 
of those who communicate are dififerent and numer- 
ous: some are induced to it by the love of God 
alone, that they may oftener draw their Beloved into 
the bottom of their souls, to enjoy him, comfort them- 
selves with him, and become inflamed with his love. 
Others are excited to it by the knowledge they have 
of their own weakness, and seek to be cured of their 
infirmities by the assistance of this heavenly Phy- 
sician ; others are touched with the remembrance of 
their sins, and hope by this great sacrifice, and by 
this saving Host, to obtain pardon of them ; others, 
seeing themselves pressed with some temptation, or 
some extraordinary affliction, have recourse to this 
sacrament that, by the power of the Almighty, they 
may be delivered from their troubles, and defended 
from their enemy : others desire some particular 
grace, and address themselves to this dear Son, to 



202 'THE MEMORIAL 0? 

whom his Father can refuse nothing, for the obtain- 
ing of their request ; others burn with a zeal of tes- 
tifying to God their acknowledgment of his benefits, 
and they oifer him this same Son who is given thera^ 
knowing that they cannot present him any thing 
more agreeable than this cup of blessing which he 
has communicated to us; others have a design to 
praise God in his saints, since we cannot of ourselves 
more worthily honor them, than by ofiering to God 
this sacrifice of praise in remembrance of them. 
Others, in fine, celebrate and communicate, being 
induced to it through an earnest desire of their 
neighbor's salvation, or by the compassion they have 
of their brethren's adversities, being assured that 
there is nothing so efficaciously pleads the cause of 
the miserable, or so powerfully intercedes before the 
face of the Father for the living and the dead, as the 
precious blood of his Son, which he has shed both for 
the one and the other." 

In this manner does this illuminated doctor show 
us the most part of the good intentions we can have. 
Choose that which shall most afi*ect you, and make 
it, if you please, the object of your devotion. But I 
counsel you something greater, and more worthy of 
a Christian zeal. Stay not upon one alone, consider 
them all as the admirable fruits of the holy sacra- 
ment, and propose to yourself, with the assistance of 
your divine Physician, the obtaining of them all. 
Know nevertheless, that your principal end, and the 
most proper to this divine mystery, is to procure that 



A CHRISTIAN LIVB. 208 

by receiving Jesus Christ, who is concealed in it 
you may receive into your souls his spirit, by which 
you may be transformed into him, and brought to 
live as he did ; that is, with the charity, humility, 
patience, obedience, poverty of spirit, mortification of 
the flesh, and contempt of this world, which appeared 
in him. It is thus we spiritually eat and drink 
Jesus, by changing ourselves into him, and making 
ourselves one and the same thing with him, through 
the imitation of his life, as he did who said, " 1 live 
now, not I, but Christ liveth in me." Gcd. ii. 20. 
See what ought to be our principal end, joined with 
doing that which he commanded us, which is to re- 
new at our communication the memory of his death, 
and give him infinite thanks for the inestimabk 
benefit of our redemption. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Of the third thing necessary for Communicating 
well, which is, Actual Devotion. 

The third disposition which holy communion re- 
quires, is actual devotion ; and the better to under- 
stand this, you must know that this sacrament, as 
well as the rest, has one efiect common, and another 
proper to itself; the common is to give grace, as all 
the other sacraments of the law of grace do ; but 
that which is particular to this, is a new strength, 



204 THE MEMORIAL OF 

and new vigor in doing good works, and a new relish 
of heavenly things, mixed with a great sweetness, 
experienced by those who receive it. For as the 
corporal food we take has not only the property to 
preserve our lives, but, together with the pleasure 
we have in eating, gives us also strength and live- 
liness; so this divine food not only maintains our 
spiritual life with the grace it gives us, but fortifies 
also the spirit, and makes us feel inexplicable delight, 
through a sacred virtue which accompanies it. St. 
Thomas says, that " this sweetness is so great in 
those whom the Holy Ghost has purified, whose souls 
know how to relish true pleasures, that no words are 
sufficient to express." 3 Par, q. 79. art. 1 & 2. 
Nor is it to be doubted, since spiritual delights are 
found there in their source, which is our Lord Jesus 
Christ. 

For the enjoyment then of this great benefit, ac- 
tual devotion is required ; for since there must be 
some proportion between the form and that which 
serves as a disposition and preparative to the form, 
there is nothing so advantageous for the augmenting 
devotion, as devotion itself: as we see by experience 
in wood, which, the hotter and drier it is, is so much 
the fitter to burn, because heat and dryness are the 
two qualities of fire. 

But if you ask me what actual devotion is, I can 
no way better explain it to you, than by telling you, 
that it is like artificial water, which being extracted 
out of divers flowers, retains something of all their 



A CHRISTIAN LIFl. 206 

Mvors. For this devotion is an ardent and affec- 
tionate motion of the soul, composed of several holy 
desires, and divers spiritual affections, of which it is 
full when it comes to this sacrament. St. Ambrose 
declares then, when preparing himself for Mass, he 
makes his address to Jesus Christ in these words : 
•* What ought, Lord, to be my contrition, my sor- 
row for my faults, the fountain of my tears ! What 
ought, in fine, to be the reverence, fear, chastity of 
body, and purity of mind, which I am obliged to 
bring to thy altar, when I am going to celebrate thig 
divine mystery, where thy flesh is truly eaten, and thy 
blood truly drunk ; where the lowest things are join-^ 
ed with the highest, where the angels are present, 
and where thou thyself art, after an unspeakable 
manner, both the priest and sacrifice ! Who, O 
Lord, can worthily perform this mystery, except thon 
renderest him worthy?" In fine, to approach this 
adorable sacrament with the devotion of which I 
speak, and to correspond on your part, as much as 
your weakness can admit, with its holiness and dig- 
nity, bring always to it a very great respect, a pro- 
found humility, much love and confidence ; but, 
above all, assure yourself, that you will be so much 
the more worthy this heavenly bread, as you shall be 
more hungry, and desirous to be satisfied with it 
The excellence of this sacred food requires no less 
than all the several affections, and for the making 

them spring up in your heart, the considerations I 
18 



206 THE MEMORIAL OF 

%m going to set before you, will not perhaps be aa 
profitable. 

SECTION I. 

In the first place, to obtain fear and respect, con- 
sider the greatness of him who is enclosed in thia 
sacrament; for under this sacred veil is concealed 
his Divine Majesty, who created the world, who pre- 
serves and governs it; in whose presence the pillars 
of heaven tremble ; before whom all nature lies pros- 
trate (Job xxvi. 11. ;) whom the stars of heaven in- 
cessantly praise (Ihid xxxviii. 7. ;) whose immuta- 
bility appears in the wonderful revolutions of the sun 
and moon ; in whose sight the celestial spirits them- 
selves are not without spot ; in comparison of whom, 
this vast frame of the world which appears so won- 
derful, is, to use the Wise Man^s words, " but like a 
drop of morning dew, or the least grain of the ba- 
lance." Ibid iv. And after this, can you avoid being 
seized with awe and reverence, seeing with the eyes 
of faith so majestic a greatness abase itself to you ? 

I might here add something concerning the sever- 
ity of his justice, the depths of his judgments, with 
the horror he has of wicked men and their wicked- 
ness ; but I am contented only to represent to you 
what you owe to this Sovereign Majesty^ and to show 
not sinners alone, but ev«n the just themselves, what 
great reason they have to fear when they approach 
it. No man ought to flatter himself on this occasion^ 
or vainly think himself secure^ because of the vii^iia 



A CHRISTIAN LIFB. 207 

of this sacrament, which is the life of souls. It is 
true, that it gives life, but it is no less true, that it 
gives also death to those who profane it by approach- 
ing it unprepared. The children of Israel being at 
the point to give battle to the Philistines, sent for the 
ark into their army, hoping by the presence thereof, 
to gain the victory over their enemies : but the suc- 
cess was quite different from their expectation ; for 
this sacred pledge was so far from rendering them 
victorious, that, on the contrary, they lost the battle ; 
all God's people were defeated, the ark was taken^ 
and carried away by the infidels ; so that it seemed 
to have come into the camp only to render their loss 
the greater. They believed that the ark would be 
their preservation, and it was their ruin. The same 
thing befel that great favorite of Assuerus, named 
Aman. Esther vii. Queen Esther invited him to the 
banquet she had prepared for the king; this the 
proud man esteemed a mark of favor ; but he fore- 
saw not that his death would be the conclusion of his 
banquet, and that from the table he should be sent 
to execution. Wherefore the apostle, speaking to 
the faithful^ cries out, and says to them, " Let a man 
prove himself, and let him eat of that bread, and 
drink of the chalice : for he that eateth and drinketh 
unworthily, eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, 
not discerning the body of the Lord." 1 Cor. xi. 
28, 29. If, then, so great respect was required to the 
ark of the Old Testament, which was but the figure 
of this divine sacrament, there must, without doubt, 



208 THE MEMORIAL OF 

be incomparably more purity and reverence due !• 
the sacrament itself, in which Grod personally resides. 
The Bethsamites heretofore looked with curiosity into 
the ark, and fifty thousand of them died to expiate 
that offence. 1 Kings vi. 19. What then shall be- 
come of those who presume to receive irreverently 
what this ark did but represent? When this ark 
opened a passage to the Israelites through the waters 
of Jordan, Joshua commanded them not to come 
near it, but to leave always at least the distance of 
two thousand cubits between the ark and the people, 
for fear God should slay them. Josh. iii. 4. If Joshua 
treated in this manner the afk of the Lord, what 
must we do to receive in us the Lord of the ark ? 
Ought not this terrify you, if, through a serious re- 
flection on yourself, you consider that you are by 
nature nothing, and by sin less than nothing, since 
sin is less than nothing ? But those particularly 
ought to tremble, who having so often, as the prophet 
speaks, reduced themselves to nothing by their sins 
against God, dare lodge him in a heart which has 
been the nest of serpents and basilisks. 

Humble yourself then as much as you can by these 
considerations, and come to your Father's house with 
tears in your eyes, and sorrow in your heart, saying 
with the prodigal child, "Father, I have sinned 
against heaven, and before thee : I am not worthy to 
be called thy son : make me as one of thy hired 
servants." Luke xv. 18, 19. Put yourself in the con- 
lition of the publican in the gospel, who durst noi 



A CHRISTIAN LIFS 209 

approach the altar, nor lift up his eyes to heaven ; 
and smiting your breast, say with him, " Grod ! be 
merciful to me a sinner ;" {Jjuke xviii. 13.) or like 
the woman of Canaan, who said to our Saviour, 
"Yea, Lord, for the whelps also eat of the crumbs 
which fall from the table of their masters." MM. 
XV. 27. 

SECTION II. 

These are the considerations which may excite in 
your soul some part of the respect you owe to this 
divine sacrament ; but since it is reasonable you bring 
also to it no less love and confidence, in order to ob- 
tain them, consider on the other side, that as much 
hatred as this Lord of Majesty and Justice has for 
sin, so much goodness and mercy he has for sinners. 
These were the divine qualities that brought him 
down from heaven, and clothed him with our flesh, 
that made him undertake so many journeys to seek 
for sinners, that made him resolve to eat with them, 
and obliged him to say, that their salvation was his 
food and his delight. It was for them he fasted, 
travelled up and down on foot, watched, rose up early, 
and suffered innumerable contradictions and perse- 
cutions from the world. It was for their sakes he 
spent whole days m preaching, and nights in prayer 
for their necessities ; it was for them that the gates 
of his mercy were always open, and that he never 
repelled any of those who addressed themselves u) 
him, though they were rejected by others. In fine, 
18* 



210 THB MEMORIAL OF 

he was pressed with so' violent a desire to save them, 
and remedy their evils, that, to redeem and cure 
them, he consented to be fastened to a cross between 
two thieves, and to shed for them even the last drop 
of his blood. Does not it seem impossible to you for 
this goodness to proceed any farther? But our 
Saviour would extend it beyond his life. Departing 
out of this world he left us another remedy, and 
another refuge, by the institution of this most august 
sacrament, in which he himself is present : by this 
means you touch him, you possess him, and enjoy 
the benefits which his power produces ; and thence 
you daily experience that the same cause which 
obliged him to die, obliged him also to institute this 
sacrament; for as his love alone made him resolve 
to come down from heaven, and deliver himself into 
the hands of sinners : so the same love makes him 
continually give himself to the world by this divine 
invention, and often to sinners as guilty as those 
that deprived him of his life. 

It is then very clear that the cause of this great 
work could on his side be nothing but his immense 
charity ; and on ours, but our extreme necessities ; 
on our part only our misery and on his only mercy. 
And thus we see, that this divine sacrament is the 
common remedy of the just and of sinners ; that it 
is not only food for the healthy, but medicine also 
for the sick ; that it is not only the life of the living, 
but the resurrection likewise of the dead. And ac- 
cording to St. Augustin, thi3 heavenly bread not only 



A CHRISTIAN LIFB. 211 

rastams those who live, but sometimes also raises 
again those that have lost their life. 

Who then can forbid you the participation of thi« 
jaystery ? It is an hospital which the divine mercy 
has erected with royal magnificence, endowed and 
founded with the purest blood of Jesus Christ, for 
the relief of all that are sick. Will you then think 
yourselves excluded because you are infirm and 
miserable? On the contrary, you ought for this 
reason to have recourse to it. If you are afflicted 
with any great disease, it is there you will be cured ; 
if you are weak, you will there obtain strength ; if 
you are blind, you will there receive sight ; if you 
are poor, you will there find riches ; if you are hun- 
gry? J<^^ will there be satisfied ; and, in fine, if you 
are naked, and bare of the graces and virtues that 
are necessary for you, you will there again be clothed 
with them. 

Some who do not sufficiently prize this divine 
sacrament, and either know not, or will not know its 
nature and condition, keep themselves and others 
from it on frivolous pretences of their infirmities and 
weaknesses ; but they must understand, that it was 
instituted not only to serve for nourishment for those 
who are in health, but for medicine also to those that 
are sick; not only to comfort and strengthen the 
just, but to give confidence also and health to peni- 
tents. Those who find tnemselves most depressed 
have greatest need of it ; ana consequently the weak 
ean much less subsist without it than the stroDg 



212 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Those whose souls are sound and vigorous, n)ay for 
a time persist in good without this particular assist- 
ance; but what can they do without it, who have 
their soul always as it were on the edge of their lips ; 
who are so weak and void of strength, that if they 
turn their eyes but ever so little from God, they see 
themselves ready to fall and perish ? It was of these 
persons particularly that our Saviour had compassion, 
when speaking in a figure of great mystery he said, 
" If I send them away fasting to their homes, they 
will faint by the way ; for some of them come from 
far off." Mark viii. 3. For, as on that occasion, 
those hearers of Jesus Christ who came from the 
remotest places, must have been in more apparent 
danger of fainting than those who had not under- 
gone the toil of so long a journey ; so in the course 
of this life, the weakest, and those which have far- 
thest to travel, that they may arrive at the perfection 
of divine love are, without doubt, exposed to more 
pressing dangers. And since this living bread was 
ordained from heaven to support the weak, it is not 
a rashness, but a holy and wholesome resolution for 
the sick to have recourse to the Physician, and re- 
ceive from his goodness the remedy he has prepared 
for him with so much love by the effusion of all his 
blood. 

For my part, I am firmly persuaded that one of 
the greatest faults men can commit, and of which 
they shall render the most rigorous account at the 
day of judgment, will be that which they commit 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 278 

ft<;ainst the blood of Jesus Christ, in not making use 
of the admirable remedies that are found in his 
Church by the merit of his precious blood, of which 
the eucharist is undoubtedly the greatest. If a king 
had built a magnificent hospital for the reception of 
all sick persons, and had furnished it with all things 
necessary for the curing of their diseases, and after 
he had with abundance of care and charge finished 
this great work, there should not any one be found 
that would come thither to be cured, would not this 
princje think himself very ill treated, in having be- 
stowed his labor for such slothful souls, so negligent 
of their own health ? Doubt not but the King 
of Heaven will conceive the same indignation, if, 
having presented us with a remedy which cost him 
so dear, and which he has compounded of his own 
Dlood, he shall see us neglect it, and so, as much as 
in us lies, frustrate his designs, and render all his 
pains unprofitable. Doubt not but this contempt will 
make you fall into a sin like that which our Lord 
described in the parable of the feast, to which the 
guests that were invited refused to come, and fear his 
pronouncing against you that terrible sentence of 
excommunication, *.* But I say unto you, that none 
of those men that were invited shall taste of my 
supper.'' Luke xiv. 24. 

What reason can you allege that may be sufficient 
to excuse you? If you say that you are sinners, 
know you not that you cease to be so when you begin 
to love justice, and to be sorry for your offences ? 



214 THE MEMORIAL 0? 

And know you not, that as St. Jerome exprefises it» 
past sins damn you not if they are no longer pleas- 
ing ? If you say that you are fallen, and that your 
fall is irrecoverable, assure yourselves it will not be so 
if you are troubled for your misfortune, and stretch 
out your hand to be raised up again. You have 
little reason, if you say that you find yourselves 
unworthy to approach so high a mystery. Do yon 
believe that there is any one truly worthy? and 
would not our Saviour, therefore, communicate him- 
self to the little ones and imperfect, that his tender- 
ness and love might thereby have greater lustre? 
Thus, you see, you are so far from offending God by 
coming to him, that you would highly offend him by 
refusing to make use of a remedy which he has or- 
dained for such as you are. These are the principal 
considerations with which you may stir up in your 
soul the ardent desire you ought to have, that you 
may with profit be partaker of this great mystery. 

SECTION III. 

But there is a third disposition requisite for the 
approaching to this holy table, which is an ardeni 
desire and great hunger for this heavenly bread; 
and for the obtaining it there is no better means 
than to consider the effects of this divine sacrament, 
and the affections it excites in those souls which re- 
ceive it devoutly. For your instruction in this im- 
portant point, you ought to know, that as God by 
his goodness has opposed to the first man, who waa 



A CHRISTIAN LIFS. 215 

the cause of all our evils, a second man, to wit, Jesru 
Christ, who is the original of all our good ; so to the 
fatal fruit of that forbidden tree which destroyed us, 
he has opposed a heavenly fbod in this sacrament, 
which serves for a remedy to all our miseries. And 
as " by the obedience of the one, many shall be made 
just;" (Rom, v. 19.) so all the evils which that 
poisoned meat had caused in us, have happily found 
their cure in this august sacrament. This then is a 
sovereign antidote, which the divine wisdom hae 
provided to deliver all men from the poison with 
which the old serpent had infected them. And, 
therefore, to comprehend the abundance of the bene- 
fits which are liberally communicated to us by thifl 
saving food, we need only compute the calamities 
which that other fatal meat had brought upon us, 
and be fully sensible that God has changed his curse 
into a blessing ; since, speaking of that first fruit, 
he said, " In what day soever thou shalt eat of it, 
thou shalt die;" (Gen, ii. 17.) and of the second, 
" He that shall eat of this bread shall live for ever.'* 
Another means is, attentively to meditate on what it 
contains : for the flesh of Jesus Christ is really there, 
which being united to the divine word, is partaker 
of all its advantages, as a red hot iron partakes of 
all the properties of the fire that heats it. This 
made St. John Damascen say, that " the Word of 
the eternal God, which gives life to all things, being 
united to human flesh, makes that flesh also give 
life:" and this it is which leaves us no room to 



216 TBlG MEMORIAL OF 

doubt, but that this sacrament contains all the virtna 
which is in Jesus Christ, since that in it is received 
the flesh of Jesus Christ, which, being united to his 
divinity, enjoys all the greatness and all the power 
of it. 

Admire then what is wrought in you when this 
divine Lord comes to you; consider, that he comes 
to honor you with his presence, to pour on you the 
ointment of his grace, to cure you by his mercy, to 
wash you with his blood, to raise you by his death, 
to illuminate you with his light, to warm you with 
his love, to comfort you with his delights, to unite 
himself to your soul, and become her bridegroom, to 
render you a partaker of his spirit, and of all that he 
purchased for you on the cross, by offering up that 
precious blood which he gives you. Know, that by 
this divine sacrament your past sins are pardoned, 
you are strengthened against those that are to come, 
your passions are weakened, your temptations are 
diminished, your devotion is awakened, your faith 
receives new light, and your charity new heat ; your 
hope is augmented, your weakness is supported, your 
strength is repaired, your conscience is filled with 
joy, you are made partaker of Jesus Christ's merits, 
and receive pledges of eternal life. It is this bread 
that gives courage to the weak, that entertains the 
traveller, that eases those who are fallen, that ani* 
mates the fearful, that gives arms to the valiant, that 
rejoices the sorrowful, that comforts the afflicted, that 
.nstmcts the ignorant, that heats the lukewarm, that 



A CHRISTIAN LIFK. 217 

awakens the sluggard, that cures the sick, and that 
being the most common, is also the most assured 
remedy for all jour necessities. Since, then, this 
adorable sacrament produces such wonderful effects, 
and since the love of him that gives it to us, is so 
excessive, who will not desire such great riches, and 
who will not hunger for so excellent a food ? 

Let not, then, the consideration of your vileness 
and unworthiness keep you back from this sacred 
table, for though this sacrament is infinitely majestic 
and holy, you ought, nevertheless, to remember, that 
this treasure was discovered for the poor ; that this 
medicine was ordained for the sick ; that this relief 
was prepi^red for the necessitous, and this great feast 
provided for the hungry. This sacrament is the 
bread of angels, but it is also the bread of penitents ; 
it is the nourishment of the healthy, but it is also 
the remedy of the infirm : it is the feast of kings, 
but it is also the food of the populace : it is the 
strong meat of men, but it is also the milk of chil- 
dren. Thus it is all things to all men ; and none, 
how imperfect soever he is, ought to abstain from 
this divine medicine, if he desire to be cured. *^ They 
that are in health need not a physician, but they that 
are ill." Matt. ix. 12. And if Jesus Christ came 
principally into the world for these, it is also par- 
ticularly for these that he gives himself in this sacra- 
ment. See, then, by this, with what hunger, with 
what desires, and with what joy you ought to sigh 

after him who comes to heap en you so many favors 
19 



218 THB MEMORIAL OF 






Remember the longing of the ancient patriarchs 
the coming of him whom you receive. Remembe; 
how they pierced the heavens with their cries, re* 
questing aloud, that he would be pleased to come 
down ; and for this reason called him " The desired 
of all nations." Ag. ii. 7. He who comes into youi 
soul, is the same that came into the world, and he 
came to do nothing else there, but what he did for 
all the world. When he came into the world, he 
gave the world the life of grace. He comes likewise 
into your soul only to give it the same life. This 
being so, why will you not desire him with as much 
fervor as the prophets did ? Consider the zeal with 
which the apostles expected the coming of the Holy 
Ghost, the earnest prayers and fervent sighs with 
which they requested him. You ought to send up 
no less towards heaven for the obtaining Jesus 
Christ's presence, since you receive by it the Holy 
Ghost, though in a different manner. 



CHAPTER V 



T?uU Time ought to be taken for the pvUing oiuft 
self in all these Dispositions. i 

To prepare yourself, then, in this manner, yoiii 
ought to take some days before communion, in which. 
Freeing your mind from all other thoughts, you may 
both reflect at leisure on all these considerations, and, 
also cleanse your conscience by a serious examin* 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 219 

tion, true contrition, and sacramental confession of 
your sins: also some time should be allowed for 
prayer, as a previous preparation. Let those whose 
duty it is to offer daily the holy sacrifice, not follow 
the example of some who> from vain and unprofitable 
discourses, from immoderate laughter, from the 
throng of secular affairs^ pass immediately (full of 
distractions) to the altar, and make no scruple of 
coming to our Lord's table to eat the bread of angels, 
with the same disposition and indifference as if they 
were eating a bit of common bread ; which is an in- 
tolerable irreverence. We need seek no other cause 
of their little progress in virtue, after their having 
BO many years used this divine medicine : for if they 
had, at every Mass they celebrate, received some in- 
crease of grace, as it happens to those who are wor- 
thily disposed for it, they would have stored up in 
themselves a treasure of graces ; whereas we now 
see them still the same^ and after twenty years serv* 
ing at the altar, they continue as sensual as they 
were, and sometimes worse. How lamentable is this 
misfortune ! Can we see any thing more to be feared 
than to come every day to the fountain of life, to the 
banquet of angels, to the sovereign remedy of all 
our evils, and having persisted thus a long time, to 
be found at last as dry, as insensible, and with as 
much weakness as at first ? These unfaithful minis- 
ters of our Lord are exceedinglj to blame ; but there 
is an infinite number of evil Christians that deserve 
no less reprehension, who, after they have abandoned 



2f50 THE MEMORIAL OF 

theiuselves to all manner of vices, come once a yeai 
to confession, and having scarce ended their vomit 
of innumerable abominations, go incontinently from 
the priest's feet to take their place at our Lord'f^ 
table, and there eat the bread of angels, which, if it 
were possible for us, we should receive only with 
angelical purity. Were it not fit, to employ first 
some days pacifying God, and in watering and wash- 
ing with tears the place in which he is to be lodged ? 
Were it not reasonable to dispose ourselves by a vigil 
of labor and sorrow for the joy of so great a festival, 
and not to solemnize it without a great deal of pre- 
paration ? When the time was come in which God 
would give the law to his people, Moses commanded 
them to prepare themselves three days before, to wash 
their clothes, and abstain from the company of their 
wives. Exod, xix. 10, 11. None can doubt but we 
are obliged to do much more for the receiving God 
himself, who gives us not only his law but his grace, 
which is far more than his law ; and do we not fear, 
having our imagination wholly filled with our sins, 
being yet wholly defiled and polluted with our filthi- 
ness, to approach a mystery of so great purity, and 
receive a Lord whose majesty is so high and ele- 
vated ? 

This is a great abuse, and no less dangerous for 
being common : it is of importance to consider it . i 
well, and to weigh it as it deserves, not with the ^ 
weight of Cannan, which is false, but with the weight 
of the sanctuary ; that is, according .to the judgment « 

1 



A CHRISTIAN LITE. 221 

of G od and the sentiments of the saints. Let those 
who desire to perform their duty, read St Cyprian's^ 
sermon against the Christians that fell into idolatry, 
nnd they shall see how vehemently this father repre-^ 
hends this contempt and boldness. Speaking of some- 
believers, who in a short time after their sacrificing^ 
to idols, presented themselves to the holy communion,, 
he says thus : " Returning from the altars of the 
dt;vil, having their hands still polluted with these in- 
famous sacrifices, they approach the holy sacrament. 
And though it was written, that none should be sor 
presumptuous as to eat of this meat unless he be 
clean and pure, for that otherwise it will cause his- 
death ; yet are they audacious enough to receive our 
Lord's body, not having digested the flesh that was^ 
offered to idols, but having their mouths still stink- 
ing of that abominable food ; in which I may say 
their hands and mouth commit a more detestable sin, 
than that into which they fell, when they renounced 
his worship and religion." These are the words of 
St. Cyprian. Consider whether he could have ex- 
pressed himself in more forcible terms. You may 
judge by the discourse of this saint, what he would 
have said of the profanations which daily happen in 
the use of our most divine mystery. 

You may well tell, that these sinners are reconciled 
to God l^ confession : I suppose it ; but thougn they 
may be truly restored to Jesus Christ's favor, is it fit 
they should receive him at the same instant, and 
with the same mouth that is just come &om vomii*- 

Id* 



.222 THE MEMORIAL OF j 

ling forth so much filthiness, without employing some 
time to bewail their sins, and cleanse their con- 
sciences, that they may approach him with greatei 
purity ? Mary, sister of Moses, remained seven days 
without entering into the camp of God's people, tti 
^though she had repented of her fault, and was par- «1 
doned. Num. xii. 14. Absalom, the son of David/ pi 
was banished three years from his father's palace, 
though he had forgiven him the murder committed 
on the person of his brother Amnon. 2 Kings xui. 
S3. Now if this prince, after his being assured of hie 
father's favor, was obliged in some sort to expiate hie 
crime by a three years' absence, would any injurj 
^be done to these criminals by deferring for three 
days their admission to the communion, after having 
80 cruelly offended their heavenly Father, and sc 
often, by their sins, murdered and crucified his only- 
begotten Son ? 

You will tell me again, there are some so frail that 
they cannot even for so short a time, forbear offend- \ 
ing God, and that it is therefore better to admit then 
flpeedily to the holy table, for fear they render them- 
selves unworthy by new faults. I answer this, thai 
if these are venial sins, they exclude them not from 
this grace, since, as the Scripture says, ** the just man 
falleth seven times a day ;" (^Prov, xxiv. 16.) and i1 
is not hard to apply a remedy to this evil. But if 
vou speak of mortal sins, and believe them not capa- 
ble to abstain from them for so short a time, what 
danger can be imagined more strange than this, and 



A CHRISTIAN Ilfi?. 223 

what disposition more abominable, than to dare com- 
luunicate with so wavering and corrupt a conscience, 
that one cannot promise himself to pass three day« 
without sinning mortally ? And where is then that 
firm purpose which ought to be engraven in the souls 
of Christians, never to offend God, though for the 
preservation of life itself? Where is the love ef 
Crod, which fears sin above all things ? Banish from 
your minds this dangerous apprehension. The 
strength of grace is not so little, nor will you so 
easily fall into mortal sins, if you, on your side, use 
flome moderate care to avoid this misfortune. God 
will grant you the grace to preserve you from them, 
not only for some days, but also for whole years, and 
even for all your life if you invoke his assistance ; 
and he never refuses it to those that seek it. It i$ 
true, that to oblige carnal and sensual men to abstain 
from evil, though for so short a time, is like the 
turning of a great river out of its natural current, 
which it has kept for many ages. Whatever indus- 
try you use to drain it from its ancient channel, at the 
first gap it finds it breaks through all its ditches and 
banks, and returns with violence to the place where 
it was wont to have its course : it is the same with 
these old sinners ; they have for so many years been 
accustomed to live in a miserable libertinism of saying 
and doing whatever comes into their fancy, and of 
letting their hearts go with so much license after all 
their desires, that to exhort them to. change theit 
ife and persuade them to resist the motions of theii 



^a THE MEMORIAL Of 

passions, is to give them so intolerable a pain, tibfti 
DO time seems short enough for them till they get out 
of this constraint, and return to their first disorders. 
We see by the efiect, that the true cause which makes i 
them go with so much haste to communion, is the ; 
secret torment they feel to see themselves reduced to 
a necessity of being good for only two or three days, ] 
such deep roots has their wickedness taken in their 
hearts. Wretches that you are I how can you enter ' 
into this false presumption of being saved, and of 
becoming companions of those who fight faithfully, 
if you are become so hardened and so slothful that 
you will not put on the armor of the Christian war- 
fieure ? But know, as the apostle says, that none shall 
**be crowned, except he strive lawfully;" (2 Tim. 
ii. 5.) and do not imagine, that what I now say to 
you is contrary to what I have represented to you, 
concerning the confidence with which we ought to 
approach this mystery. What I said in that place 
was to give courage to weak and timorous souls who, 
through indiscreet fears, abstain from this sacrament ; 
and what I now say to you is, to retain the rash 
within the bounds of their duty ; not on any design 
to deprive them of this sovereign remedy, but to the 
end they may come to it with the necessary purity 
and preparation. 



A CHRISTIAN LI7B. 225 

CHAPTER VI. 

What ought to he done he/ore Communicating, 

If you desire then to do this important action nB 
you ought^ take some time to dispose yourself for it ; 
and to say something more particular for those who 
often er frequent this divine sacrament, my opinion 
is, that as Moses commanded the children of Israel 
to employ three days in preparing themselves to re- 
ceive God's law, (^Exod. xix. 10, 11.) so you should 
take the same time to put yourself in a state to re- 
ceive this great Majesty, which comes to give you 
not a law of death, but a law of life ; a law which 
not only represents to you his characters, but fills 
you with his spirit ; a law of love, and not of fear. 
The Scripture gives us an example which ought to 
fill us with great confusion ; it says, that the wives 
of king Assuerus employed a whole year in adorn- 
ing and preparing themselves to appear only once in 
the presence of that prince. (Esther ii. 12.) If 
these women spent so much time to render them- 
selves agreeable to the eyes of a mortal man, what 
ought not you to do for obtaining the favor of the 
King of Heaven ! One of the greatest praises which 
the angel gave the Blessed Virgin was to tell her 
that she had found favor in the sight of God. (Luke 
r. 30.) Wherefore then should not we take as much 
care to render ourselves pleasing to God, as those 
women did for that vanity ? Ought not our whole 
life to be a continual preparation to render us wor- 



226 THE MEMORIAL OP 

thj of the most signal of all favors, by coiumunica- 
ting worthily ? 

I know well that, morally speaking, you will not 
faktiain to this perfection ; but do, at least, something 
to dispose yourself for so great and so awful a mys- 
tery. Do, on your part, seriously all that may de- 
pend on you ; and if you ask me what that is, I will 
tell you, first, that you ought to have your eyes more 
watchful over yourself; that you ought more atten- 
tively to consider all your actions, and all your words ; 
and you ought to take very great care not to slip 
into anything that may offend God's goodness, not 
only mortally, but even venially, if it be possible. I 
tell you, moreover, that you ought not only to avoid 
sin, but also the occasions of sin. Abstain from un- 
profitable conversations, from diverting entertain- 
ments, from railleries, and all things of that nature, 
which are scarcely ever without sin. Take heed 
then to bridle your tongue ; let your mouth be pure 
and innocent, and let no vain or dangerous word 
proceed from it ; consider it is the door by which 
this heavenly Host must enter into your soul. 

If I demand of you so much circumspection and 
cleanliness in your mouth, your heart requires yet 
more ; free it then from all impure thoughts, from 
all unquietness and vanity ; this is the bed on which 
your God is to repose ; let him see nothing in it that 
may offend his eyes. And because the place of the 
Lord, as the Psalmist says, is a place of peace, it is 
very fit to set aside, during that time, all affairs 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 227 

which may disti*act your mind, or put it in disorder 
The bed of the heavenly bridegroom, as it is de- 
scribed by the spouse in the Canticle, is all covered 
with flowers; mix not with them thorns, that is, 
sour and discontented thoughts. And if necessity 
obliges to treat at that time of any difficult business, 
let it be with so much moderation and reservedness^ 
that your heart be not troubled about it, and that it 
hinder not the peace and repose of your soul. In 
these days, you ought to bestow more time on all 
spiritual exercises ; pray, meditate ; this is the sweet- 
smelling incense with which you ought to perfume 
the house wherein you purpose to receive this hea- 
venly guest ; employ yourself especially during these 
three days, to pass over, with attention in your mind, 
the three sorts of considerations I have declared to 
you, to stir up in your souls the fear, love, and hun- 
ger you ought to have for the bread of heaven. Du- 
ring these three days pray to the Most Holy Trinity; 

^ address yourself every day to one of the Three Per- 
sons separately, to the end they may give you the 
grace and purity which is necessary for this holy 
communion. Have recourse particularly to the 
Blessed Virgin, beseeching her by that fervor and 
that admirable devotion with which she conceived 
in her womb the Son of God, and received him in 
her arms after he was born, to obtain for you the 
grace to receive him worthily into your soul. Beg 
of her, by that tenderness and those transports with 

^ Jthich she herself communicated, and receired the 



228 THB MEMORIAL Of 

Bacred body of her Son, after his ascent into heayen, 
to obtain for you some part in the grace and love 
which he made her feel when he gave himself to her. 
In this prayer to the Queen of Heaven, make par- 
ticular reflections on the lively faith, the devotion, 
the tears, and the joy, with which she received her 
Son under the sacramental species, in expectation of 
the time when she should see him in all his glory. 
For if you can conceive anything of the faith and 
love of this holy creature, that is, with how much 
firmness and certainty she believed, that in this con- 
secrated bread there was truly her Son's precious 
body, what affection she had for him, and what de- 
sire to see him, possess him, and embrace him in her 
heart; you will, without doubt, comprehend some- 
thing of the sentiments of that divine soul, and of 
the heavenly content she found in herself at the 
time of her communion. Beg of her some of her 
devotion, and that she will transmit to you some 
spark of that divine fire, the least of whkh would be 
sufficient to prepare you as you ought for this won- 
derful feast. 

The evening before you communicate, you will do 
well to abstain, if you can, from supper, or at least 
to sup very sparingly, without entering into any dis- 
course at table, to the end your sleep may be more 
pure and quiet, and your mind more free, and that 
you may spend some part of the night in considering 
^he greatness of what you are going about^ and the 
happiness you shall have the next day. Entering 



A CHRISTIAN LIFK, 229 

into your bod, bring thither the same thoughts ; beg 
of God to preserve you during the night from the 
illusions and artifices of your enemy, to the end yeu 
may approach his Majesty with a great purity of 
body and soul; as often as you awake resume the 
same thoughts, and continue the SAme prayers you 
made at your going to bed. And in the morning, 
as soon as your eyes are open, let your heart be fas- 
tened to the cro^ of Jesus Christ, and filled with the 
memory of his passion. It is on this divine sacrifice 
tibat you ought particularly to meditate all this 
day, considering the immensity of the love with 
which the Son of God, for your sake^ delivered him- 
self up to this treaty ; how he presented his shoul- 
ders to receive the blows which your crimes merited ; 
and, in fine, with what charity he gives himself to us 
all at this table for the common remedy of our evils 
It was in remembrance of his death that Jesus 
Christ instituted this sacrament, {Imke xxii. 19.) 
and this is the principal and tenderest of the thoughts 
which ought to fill your mind, if you desire to satisfy 
with fidelity, as you are obliged to do, the will of 
ciiis testator. 



CHAPTER VII. 

What %$ to he done in Communicating , and after 
Communicating. 

Having declared to you the dispositions which are 
aecessary for you befi^re communion, I am now going 



230 THE MEMORIAL OF 

to teach you, in a few words, what you ought to do 
at the time of your receiving, and after you shall 
have received. At your approach then to the altar, 
m order to communicate, imagine that you hear that 
sweet voice of the Gospel, " Behold ! the bridegroom 
Cometh ; go ye forth to meet him." Matt. xxv. 6. 
For, in effect, there is no sacrament in which our 
Lord so openly declares himself to be the bridegroom 
of our souls, as in the sacrament of the eucharist : 
its proper effect is to unite to him the soul of the 
communicant, and to make of two but one thing ; 
which is indeed a spiritual alliance. That you may 
then go forth to meet this bridegroom, and receive 
him as he deserves, you need only attentively con- 
sider in what state he presents himself He comes 
to you full of charity, goodness, humility, and mercy ; 
he tells you, that he earnestly desires to celebrate 
this Pasch with you, in which the true Lamb is eaten ; 
(Luke xxii. 15.) and you ought, on your side, to re- 
ceive him with all the devotion, love, humility, and 
joy you are capable of, since you are going to be 
honored with the presence of your soul's true bride- 
groom, of your Master, your Creator, your God, and 
your whole Good. Remember the devotion and joy 
with which holy old Simeon received in his arms the 
child Jesus, when he was put into them by his 
mother. Luhe ii. 28, &c. He protested that he had 
only desired life to see his Saviour. Enter into the 
sentiments of this saint, and let not life be dear to 
you, but because you are going to possess Jesus. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 231 

See with what transport the mother of St. John the 
Baptist received into her house the mother of her 
Lord ; consider with what satisfaction she said to her 
these words : " Whence is this to me, that the mo- 
ther of my Lord should come to me ?" Luke i. 43 
Is it not reasonable, since you receive this Lord in 
person, that you should testify your joy, and say 
with this holy woman : Whence is this excess of 
happiness befallen me, that the Lord of angels, and 
all the glory of heaven, vouchsafes to come to me. 
my Father ! my Pastor, my Lord, my God, and 
my all ! you are not contented with having created 
me after your image, and redeemed me with your 
blood ; but you will also, by an incomparable prodi- 
gy of love, come into me, make your abode in me, 
transform me into you, and make yourself one and 
the same thing with me, as if you depended on me, 
and not I on you. Whence, my Lord ! does this 
good come unto me ? Is it from my merits, or that 
you would gain some advantage from being with me ? 
No surely ; it is an eflFect of your sole goodness and 
mercy, which makes you more delight to be with 
me, than I to be with you. I desire you, only be- 
cause I am miserable, and have need of your assist- 
ance ; and you desire me through pure mercy. I 
seek you, to possess him that can give me all ; and 
you come to find me out, that you may give me all ; 
and because the desire you have to do me good infi- 
nitely exceeds the inclination I have to receive it, 
(since your goodness infinitely surpasses my nece»« 



232 THE MEMORIAL OF 

sity,^ I certainly know that the pleasure you have 
in coining to me, is much beyond that I feel in re- 
ceiving you ; for it is your sacred mouth which 
teaches me, that " your greatest delights are to be 
with the children of men." Prov. viii. 31. Nor ia 
it more natural for birds to fly, or for fishes to swim, 
than it is for you, my Sovereign Good, to do good, 
and communicate yourself. 

It is in these or such like thoughts, your heart 
ought to be employed before the receiving this hea- 
venly Guest, and also after you have received him, so 
to maintain and nourish in you the devotion he re- 
quires. But because the holiness and dignity of this 
bridegroom are beyond all that can be imagined, 
and that he is moreover pleased to observe a chaste 
shame-facedness in his brides, your devotion and joy 
must be mixed with a very great respect, and a pro- 
found humility, considering on the one side tho 
supreme majesty of him who gives himself, and on 
the other the unworthiness of him that receives. 
Thus shall you accomplish what David counsels you : 
" Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice before him 
with trembling." Now for the procuring these holy 
affections, you will do well to call to mind the won- 
derful threats which God commanded to be pro- 
nounced to his people, when he intended to give 
them his law. He caused them to be told, that nei- 
ther man nor beast should dare to approach the 
mountain where his Majesty spake, under the penalty 
of being immediately stoned to death. He permitted 



A CIIKISTIAN LIFE. 238 

Aaron, his high priest, whom himself had chosen, 
and gome of the most considerable, to come np into 
the mountain; but at the same time he enjoined 
them to adore afar off, and not to co^ae near him, 
reserving tl^at privilege to Moses alone, (^Exod. xix. 
12, 13, &c.) Apply to yourself this example ; retire 
yourself into your own nothingness ; humble your- 
self even to the dust and bottom of the earth, when 
you receive into your body and soul the Lord of 
heaven and earth. 

SECTION 1. 

Having received the sacred Host, keep it a little 
while in your mouth, that it may moisten, and so 
more easily pass down. For want of using this pre- 
caution it often happens, that the host sticking to 
the roof of the mouth, the anxiety with which the 
receiver endeavors to loosen it, disturbs all the de- 
votion that this precious moment requires : but great 
care should be taken to let the sacred host pass into 
the stomach before it would be so moistened as to 
melt in the mouth ; for then it would not be actually 
receiving it as commanded. Forbear spitting pre- 
sently after you have communicated, if you can avoid 
it ; and if necessity force you to spit, let it be in 
some clean and decent place, where it may not be 
trod on by any. Eat not as soon as you come from 
communion, because you cannot, without some sort 
of irreverence, burden your stomach with meat whilst 
the aacramental species remain yet entire in it. The 
SO* 



234 THE MEMORIAL OF 

time which immediately follows this divine action 
you have now been finishing, is the fittest of all to 
treat with God^ to taste how sweet he is, and to 
embrace him in the midst of your heart. Continue 
some time in the church, in the place 'where you 
have communicated, giving God thanks for this ex- 
traordinary benefit ; persist a while in meditating on 
all these circumstances, and say with your mouth 
some of the prayers which T shall for this purpose 
put at the end of this third book. Keep yourself 
composed, and especially avoid a fault into which 
many persons fall, who make no scruple of prattling 
and laughing with others immediately after they 
have communicated. This I esteem a very great 
offence, and highly deserving to be condemned ; for 
can you treat with greater incivility a guest who 
should come to visit you, than to turn your back on 
him as soon as he is come into your house, and leave 
his company to divert yourself about other matters. 
It is the opinion of Cardinal Cajetan, that the holy 
sacrament communicates its virtue to the souls of the 
receivers, not only at the time of their actual receiv- 
ing, but also in that which follows, and as long as 
the species continue whole in the stomach ; and he 
believes that on this occasion may be said what our 
Lord said on another: "As long as I am in the 
world, I am the light of the world.'' John ix. 5. If 
this be so, as this learned doctor supposes, it is a very 
great reason to invite you to continue during that 
time very closely recollected, and in a particular dero- 



A CHRISTIAN LHS. 285 

tion, to the end this heavenly grace may be commu- 
nicated to you in greater abundance, since this sacra- 
ment operates conformably to the disposition it findg 
in souls. The two principal passages by which the 
Holy Ghost most frequently conveys into us his in- 
fluences, are the understanding and the will, giving 
to the one great lights, and to the other more tender 
sentiments for the things of God. You would act 
then with very little reason, if by such voluntary 
distractions you should keep these doors shut during 
80 advantageous a time. It is at this time you may 
receive one of the greatest fruits of your communion, 
and enjoy the most delicious repast of this table ; and 
since the principal is done, and you have this divine 
food in a manner still in your breast, do not depart 
when you ought most familiarly to open the bosom 
of your soul to God, and receive the most beneficial 
eflfects of the sacrament and the preparation you have 
brought to it. 

You desire, perhaps, I should declare to you some^ 
Aing more particular, and tell you in what you may 
best employ these happy moments ; in a word, breth- 
ren, employ them in praising God, and in the exer- 
cise of his love ; for here, as St. Bernard says, is 
given the kiss of peace, the sweetness of which 
nothing can equal ; here is made that union of the 
soul with the heavenly Bridegroom ; and this is truly 
the time and place to raise your soul .higher to God 
by holy aspirations, which are nothing else but fre- 
!{uent acts of love and burning desires of the chiefed 



236 THE MITMORIAL OT 

^f>od, STich as were those of the prophet when he said, 
•' I will love thee^ Lord, my strength ;" (^Psalm 
xvii. 1.) and in another place, " As the hart panteth 
after the fountains of waters, so my soul panteth af- 
ter thee, God.'^ (^Psalm xli. 1.) I advise you also 
to take time to give thanks to God for his beneiSts, 
and especially for this, in which the Giver of all 
Goodness gives even himself. And that you may 
the better understand how much you are obliged to 
make this last acknowledgment, remember the com- 
mand which God gave Moses after he had rained 
down manna on the people of Israel : he bid him 
take a vessel of gold and fill it with manna, to be 
kept in the ark for an eternal memorial of that bene- 
fit, and to the end that all the successors of that peo- 
ple might know in what manner he had fed their an- 
cestors for forty years in the desert. (^Exod. xvi. 32, 
&c.) There is no comparison between this manna, 
which was a corruptible food, and the most holy sa- 
crament, which is the bread of eternal life. And if 
God required such an acknowledgment for that per- 
ishable meat, what do you not owe him, and what may 
not he exact of you for this which is life, and the 
source of a life that shall never have an end ? Thk 
gift is so great, that there are no words suflScient to 
express it. During the whole day in which you 
shall have obtained this happiness, keep yourself 
very reserved, and take heed not to do anything 
which may offend the presence of a God, whose good- 
ness has made him condescend to lodge with joa 



A CIIRISTTAN LIFE. 237 

The kingly prophet protested that he would lie pros- 
trate with respect in the place where the Lord had 
set his feet. (Psalm cxxxi. 7.) And you ought on 
this day to have a holy respect for your own body, 
in which Grod himself reposes. This respect consists 
partly in regulating your exterior, but much more in 
not permitting anything to enter into your interior, 
which is not of God. You should especially take 
care to keep during that day a religious silence ; you 
must, if I may be permitted to use such a compari- 
son, stop the oven's mouth, for fear the heat of de- 
votion which the fire of God's love has kindled, 
should evaporate. The spirit of devotion is delicate, 
it easily slips away if it be not entertained, and re- 
turns not but with much difficulty. Thus the holy 
sacrament will keep you in modesty and recollection 
during the days which precede communion, and those 
that follow it. And as the sun enlightens and em- 
bellishes the world, not only when he has got above 
the horizon, but also an hour before he rises, and an 
hour after he is set ; so the Sun of Justice, who is 
contained in this admirable sacrament^ will enlighten 
your souls, not only at the time you receive him, but 
also both before and after your receiving him ; before 
by the hopes of receiving so wonderful a favor ; after, 
by the remembrance of having been so highly honored. 
You will find in the fifth book of this Memorial 
several prayers and meditations which will render all 
these exercises much more easy to you, provided 
you read them with attention and recollection, stay- 



238 THE MEMORIAL Of 

mg and meditating on the things which shall mo0l 
move you, and wherein you shall find the greater 
relish. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

On the use of the Sacraments of Penance and the 
Blessed Eucharist, and on the profit received hy 
often frequenting them. 

Having now copiously set forth in what manner 
you ought to prepare yourself, that you ma} wor- 
thily receive the holy communion, I am now going 
more briefly to inform you of the profit you may gain 
by the frequent use of the sacraments, if you take 
care to approach them as you ought. 

In the first place, you must know that the sacra- 
ments of the law of grace are, as it were, the conduit- 
pipes and channels of heaven, by which the Holy 
Ghost conveys his graces, ajid which originally have 
their sources from the side of Jesus Christ, according 
to that curious conception of St. Chrysostom, that 
all those who communicate ought to make account 
that they are putting their mouths to the wounds of 
that precious side, and drinking there the water of 
life. They are remedies and medicines for our weak- 
nesses, which none knows better than he who was sent 
to cure them, and who wanted neither knowledge 
nor love to invent what was most convenient for them. 
It was not reasonable there should be so many sorts 
of medicines to cure our bodies, and that there should 
l»e none for our souls, which are subject to no leaa 



A CHRISTIAN LIFB. 289 

distempers ; since it is of far greater importance to 
provide for their diseases tha'Q for those of the body, 
fchey being of a far greater and more excellent value. 
For this end were the sacraments of the law of 
grace instituted : it was fit, that being a perfect law, 
and requiring perfect subjects, it should comprehend 
all that is necessary for our salvation ; and for this 
reason, as our maladies are different and numerous, 
it has several sacraments to remedy them. 

Nor do the sacraments alone on their part help us 
to obtain so good an effect ; but what we also con- 
tribute on ours for the worthy receiving them. You 
go to confession ; you accuse yourself of your past 
gins ; you testify the sorrow you feel for having com- 
mitted them ; you humble yourself at the feet of Je- 
sus Christ's minister ; you beg pardon for your of- 
fences; you take a firm resolution to amend; and, 
in fine, God receives you, and you are reconciled to 
him by the ministry of the church. You cannot 
sufficiently esteem the benefit of this divine remedy ; 
nothing is so capable to help you to regulate your 
life ; and being to give an account of your conscience 
from time to time, will make you, without doubifc, be- 
come careful to keep it in a good condition. A traveller 
that walks between two walls is obliged to go the di- 
rect way, since he can neither turn aside on one 
hand or the other ; so the confession you have made, 
and that which must soon follow, are a great means 
to keep you from declining to anything that is ill. 
How beneficial is this sacrament ; how great is its 



240 THE MEMORIAL OF 

necessity in the church ; and how desirable is it thai 
(Christians have at least as much esteem for spiritual 
things as they have for temporal, to the end they 
might comprehend its worth ! Must not a garden 
be continually dressed ? Must not a house be daily 
swept ? Must not the linen you use be often washed ; 
because all these things grow foul if they 'are not 
frequently cleansed? You can less continue in so 
corrupt a world as this we live in, without having 
your soul stained and defiled ; and you would at the 
same time renounce both piety and reason, if you 
would not have recourse to so easy a remedy, and of- 
ten make use of it, since you are so often in danger. 
Wash your soul in the wholesome water of penanca 
and confession once a week, since you wash at least 
so often the linen which covers your body ; for the 
purity of your soul is as much to be preferred before 
the cleanliness of your body, as the one is more esti- 
mable and more precious than the other. 

See with how much haste and care the mariners 
lay their hand to the pump of their ship, to empty 
out the water it continually gathers in, especially in 
time of rain, for fear, lest being overburdened, it 
should sink down to the bottom. The venial sins we 
daily commit appear nothing to us, and yet they are 
like drops of water which fall into the bottom of our 
soul, and bring us by little and little to mortal sins, 
which utterly sink us, and cause our death. Let us 
go then to the remedy which may preserve us from 
the lesser, that so we may avoid falling into the 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 241 

greater, which would bring us to an irrevocable loss. 
We see, also, how nature of herself provides for the 
case of bodies filled with ill-humors, opening some 
iflsue by which they are purged ; and that by these 
moans, those who otherwise could scarcely live, are a 
long time preserved in a state of health, and that 
physicians are very careful not to stop these natural 
issues, because they will not deprive their patients of 
BO certain a remedy. What nature wisely finds out 
for the preservation of bodies, grace more efficaciously 
does for the saving of souls ; there are daily bred in 
us ill-humors by sin^ and they are daily purged and 
washed away by a good confession. 

SECTION I. 

Of the Effects of Sacramental Communion, 

Thus are souls purified, and thus do they receive 
health in confession ; but since this health is exposed 
to many dangers, God has of his goodness given 
them a powerful remedy for its preservation ; that is, 
the most holy sacrament of the altar, which Jestif 
Christ has instituted in the form of food ; *' because, 
as food maintains the life of the body, so this sacra- 
ment sustains the life of the spirit." (aS. Thorn, part 
8. q. 79.) This life is charity, which this divine 
preservative supports amidst all the contradictions it 
meets with here below. Wherefore Jesus Christ 
said, that " his flesh was meat indeed, and his blood 
was drink indeed." (John vi. 56.) And all the fa- 
thers on these words unanimously teach us, that this 



242 



THE MEMORIAL OF 



divine meat works spiritually in souls all the efit ctf 
which the ordinary nourishment does in bodies ; for 
it strengthens us in the spiritual life, it causes in our 
souls an inward relish which fills them with joy, it 
restores supernatural forces, it repairs the virtues 
which are weakened, it enables to resist temptations, 
and makes men grow up to the highest perfection 
they ought to ascend to^ if they themselves put no 
impediment to it. 

If you ask, how it is possible that a corporal sub- 
stance should produce such a spiritual eflfect as the 
preserving and augmenting of charity, and the main- 
taining in us the life of the soul ; I will tell you^ 
that this wonder comes from the supernatural virtue 
of the sacraments ^hich God has ordained : he 
would have them serve for a remedy to our weakness, 
and that under visible forms they should operate in- 
visible effects. Thus in the sacrament of baptism, 
the water, which outwardly washes the body, inward- 
ly cleanses the soul from all its filth, and puts it in 
the state of grace. This divine sacrament does the 
same in its manner, as being a sacrament, and the 
greatest of all sacraments ; but besides this it has 
two signal advantages above all the rest, which cause 
it more powerfully to produce this effect. The first 
18, that with the flesh, it truly contains in it the soul 
of Jesus Christ, and the eternal WORD of the liv- 
ing God, and the life of all things, who by the meana 
of the sacrament enters into the soul of the believer 
which communicates and produces in it the admira* 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 243 

bit; effect of giving him a spiritual life. The physi- 
cian, designing to cure his patient with some pow- 
ders, puts them into water, to the end the water, 
which is liquid, may carry the remedy through all 
the parts of the body in which it is to make its ope- 
ration. In like manner acts the Physician of our 
Bouls ; he would unite the divine Word with the flesh 
of man, that entering by this admirable way into 
men composed of flesh, it might work in them this 
kind of health and life. 

The second is, that it is not only the divine Word 
which operates this effect by itself, but the flesh, 
which he has united to himself, participates of the 
aame virtue ; and this flesh, as the instrument of the 
Word, and by the union it has with him, causes also 
Kfe, and a true spring of life. {S. Thorn, part 3. q. 
97. art. 1.) Wherefore our Lord, as soon as he had 
raised the prince of the synagogue's daughter, com- 
manded they should give her to eat, (^ImJce viii. 55.) 
to the end the life he had restored her by his power 
might be preserved by nourishment ; and to teach 
us, that souls raised by the virtue of Almighty God, 
which is found in the sacrament of penance, stand in 
need of this heavenly food to preserve in them, by 
this last sacrament, the life they have received by 
the first. Thus you see how necessary these two sa- 
craments are for the spiritual life, since the one gives 
it, and the other maintains it. If you desire then to 
obtain this happy life, confess often ; and if you de- 
sire to preserve it, communicate often. Nor think to 



244 THE MEMORIAL OF 

find any other reason why you see at this day so 
many people die spiritually, but because they will not 
follow the counsel I here give you. It is for the 
same reason that in the greatest part of men there 
is not seen any spark of charity, in which the life of 
the soul consists, because scarce any one makes use 
of the sacred preservatives which God has ordained 
for this effect. Charity, as Cardinal Cajetan admira- 
bly well says, is in this world as out of her natural 
place ; she is a citizen of heaven, where, having the 
Sovereign good present, she incessantly burns with 
love of him : but on earth she is like a stranger ; she 
finds there a thousand things which are contrary to 
her, and she has need of a strong defensive to subsist 
there. One drop of water cast into the sea endures f«r 
ever, because it is in its element, and of the same na- 
ture with the other water it is mixed with ; but if you 
pour it on the earth, it is immediately dried up, be- 
cause of the natural dryness of the place where it 
was spilt, which is contrary to it. A town situated 
in the heart of a kingdom is secure from enemies ; 
it needs neither fortifications nor garrisons to pre- 
serve it; but a frontier town is in danger of being 
lost, if it be not defended by ramparts and soldiers. 
So charity in this life runs great hazards ; she is here 
out of her natural place ; her enemies are numerous 
and mighty ; and she would never subsist if her Sov- 
ereign had not fortified her with powerful defences, 
of which the strongest is, undoubtedly, the holy 
Bacrament. David perceived something of it whuii 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE 246 

he said, " Thou hast prepared a table before me 
(which gives me virtue and strength) against them 
that afflict me." Psalm xxii 5. And if we are all 
exposed to the assaults which these enemies daily 
make upon us, how can we resist them without the 
success of this table, whieh God has prepared, and 
which is all our strength ? Wo be to them, says St. 
Bernard, that are called to do the works of the 
mighty, and do not eat the bread of the mighty. 
Who are they, brethren, that are called to do the ac- 
tions of the strong and hardy, but such as in the day 
of their baptism declared themselves the soldiers of 
Jesus Christ, and enemies to the devil, and all his 
pomps ? And what is the food that gives strength 
against these terrible enemies, but this divine sacra- 
ment ; which, according to St. Chrysostom, changes 
those who come to it, and makes them lions, who 
cast fire out of their mouths. Wherefore, instead 
of what we read, " Man eat the bread of angels," 
(Pscdm Ixxvii. 25.) St. Jerome has translated, 
" Man has eaten the bread of the mighty." For such 
in effect is the holy sacrament, which was prefigured 
by that bread. 

And, therefore, with great reason does this holy 
father bewail the unhappiness of those who, seeing 
themselves daily called to the battle, and having no 
arms for their defenOe which are equal to those of 
the eucharist, will not make use of them, knowing 
that the loss of so many souls as we daily see perish, 
happens only through this negligence. In the time 
21* 



246 TUE MEMORIAL OP 

of the primitive Church, when this sacrament wai 
continually administered to the faithful, the Chris- 
tians, strengthened with its virtue, surmounted, with- 
out difficulty, the rage of their persecutors : they daily 
laid down their lives for the sake of justice, for which 
we do not take the least pains. Change then^ in 
fine, your conduct; you have need of a remedy 
among so many dangers and deaths to which you are 
so perpetually exposed. Draw near to this table, 
feed yourself with this bread of the mighty, and re* 
solve to renounce the errors of this age, and to imi- 
tate the piety of those who lived in the first ages of 
the church, if you desire to fight well and be crown- 
ed with them. 

SECTION II. 

Answers to the Objections of the Slothful. 

Carnal men, and such as have no other rule for 
their conduct but their senses and corrupt will, ask 
why so many confessions and communions; and 
whether it be not sufficient to confess once a year, 
as the church ordains. Those that speak thus neither 
understand the corruption of nature, nor the virtue 
of this heavenly medicine, nor the necessity we have 
for it. 

If man were sick but once a year, it would be suf- 
ficient for him only once a year to make use of these 
remedies ; but if man's whole life is nothing but a 
continual train of infirmities; if the heat of our con* 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 247 

cupiscence so often scorches us ; if pride, envy, im- 
purity, the festered wound of our ancient enemies, 
the loathing of spiritual things, and an insatiable 
hunger after earthly things, make in us every mo- 
ment such strange ravages ; shall we be so negligent 
AS to delay the providing against them till the year 
is expired ? and do we think by such slow remedies 
to cure the evils we daily feel ? Plasters have but 
little force when applied to old sores. Confession, 1 
grant, cures sin ; but it takes not away the roots of 
them ; the ill habits in which we are grown old con- 
tinue, and the cure of them is exceedingly difficult. 
What would you say of a man who should see his 
house set on fire, or his walls pulling down by his 
enemies, and should wait till the end of the year to 
oppose it ? Would you not accuse him of cowardice 
or folly ? Yet this is the case of most men. Our 
flesh daily burns with as many flames as it feels irreg- 
ular desires ; the devils, which are our greatest ene- 
mies, make continual attacks upon our heart, to whom 
we can oppose nothing of so great power as the sa- 
craments : the danger is extreme and present, and 
will you stay a year before you remedy it ? Who- 
ever acts thus, knows not the value of his soul, un- 
derstands not the perverseness of his flesh, is ignor- 
ant of the virtue of the sacraments, and of the end 
for which they were instituted ; for it is not more 
certain that physic was invented to cure the disease? 
of our bodies, and bread to preserve them, than it ib 
true that the sacrament of penance was ordained U> 



248 THE MEMORIAL OP 

heal the maladies of our souls, and that of the coTn* 
munion to nourish them. You will tell me, that at 
the end of this year God will pardon all your sins : 
be it so ; but do you not apprehend the tyranny of ill 
custom, which having taken deep root in your souls, 
cannot be plucked up without difficulty ? What cer- 
tainty have you that you will live a year, a month, 
even a day, or an hour ? Do you make nothing of 
so many offences that you might have avoided, which 
are of greater importance than the loss of a thou- 
sand worlds ? Have you no fear of the other sins 
which this first sin will draw after it, since St. Greg- 
ory says, that the sin which is not redeemed by pen- 
ance, is soon followed by some other no less heavy 
than the former. Can it be doubted, but that it were 
better to prevent dangerous wounds, than to seek a 
cure for them after they are made ? The church in- 
deed obliges you not to communicate above once a 
year ; but do you not know, that in this she acts like 
a tender mother, who would not give the weak occa- 
sion either to communicate unworthily, or to break 
her laws, as some do, who quite forsake the commu- 
nion. It is an indulgence she uses in favor of the 
weak, leaving the door open, and this holy table al- 
ways prepared, for those who have more devotion and 
piety. 

There are many that understand well what I say, 
and know by experience the virtue of the sacraments ; 
but they make a difficulty to receive them often, for 
ihame of the world ; being like those Pharisees of 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 249 

whom Sf . John speaks, that " believed in Jesus 
Christ, but durst not confess him, because qf the 
Pharisees ;" and whom the holy Evangelist accuses, 
" that they loved the glory of men more than the 
glory of God/' John xii. 42, 43. Are you not truly 
guilty of that fault; for confessing as you do, that 
this sacrament was instituted by Jesus Christ, and 
that himself ordained the use of it, what is your not 
daring to come to it, for fear of the world, but being 
a«hamed to declare yourself a good Christian, and 
tiue disciple of Jesus Christ. St. Peter bewailed all 
his life one such fault ; he was afraid to appear one 
of Jesus Christ's disciples, and the shame of the 
world made him deny him. Bewail, as he did, your 
infidelities with tears of blood. Jesus Christ reigns 
now in heaven, he is adored by the world, and men 
are ashamed to appear his disciples. In what man- 
ner, says Salvian, is Jesus Christ at this day honored 
amongst Christians, when the being his is an occa- 
sion to make one less esteemed of men ? Can the 
corruption of the world come to any greater ex- 
tremity, than to hold religion as a mean and dishon- 
orable thing ? On the contrary, it is this only that 
deserves honor, and to which all divine and human 
laws have given respect and deference. Say then 
no longer, that the clamors of the world keep you 
back from this divine mystery. You know that 
amongst those three great enemies of our souls, of 
which the Scripture makes mention, one of the most 
dangerous is the world You know that it opposed 



250 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Jesus Christ, and that it persecuted the apostles, 
prophets, and all the saints. Would you after this 
have any esteem for the most open of your enemies ? 
Who ever relied on the counsel of his adversary, and 
of an adversary who has sworn an irreconcilable 
war ? The world withdraws you from the holy mys- 
teries ; Jesus Christ invites you to them, when he 
says, *' Come to me, all you that labor and are bur- 
dened and I will refresh you.*' Matt. xi. 28. To 
which of these two voices ought you with greatest 
reason give ear ? If Jesus Christ calling us on the 
one side, and the world on the other, we run to the 
world and leave Jesus Christ, how can we be named 
the servants of Jesus Christ? We are the servants 
of him whose will we do, and whom we desire to 
please ; and it is to us that the apostle said, ** If I 
go about to please men, I am no longer the servant 
of Jesus Christ." Follow your master's voice : yon 
might perhaps allege some excuse, if the world called 
you to rest, and Jesus Christ to labor ; but it is quite 
contrary, as St. Augustin represents it : " The 
world," says he, " cries to you, (more by action than 
by voice,) there is nothing so weak as I am ; Jesus 
Christ says to you, there is nothing so strong as I 
am ; and yet my miserable soul chooses rather the 
world, weak as it is, than Jesus Christ, with all his 
strength." Solil c. 10. 

Tell me, moreover, why do you trouble yourself 
about the talk of the world ? Does it deprive you 
of any considerable good, or do you any great injury? 



A chuistian life. 251 

fn no wise : you are like fearful beasts, terrified at a 
shadow, or something in the air ; all these fears are 
only the effect of your self-love, which is so jealous 
of your advantages, and so fearful to let you do any 
thing without security, that it apprehends not only 
real, but even imaginary dangers. But though there 
should indeed be eause to fear, and though the per- 
secution of men should proceed even to the shedding 
of your blood, could you refuse to expose yourself to 
a little pain^ for the enjoyment of so great a good ? 
Could you think you had paid too dear for so pre- 
cious a thing ? A bear, being got to a hive, care« 
not though the bees sting him on all sides, so he 
may but have his fill of honey. You possess with 
the Holy Ghost a heap of all good things ; you taste 
in it the greatness of all sweetness ; and will yo» 
not, for the enjoyment of so rare a consolation, sup- 
port with cheerfulness the stings of some slanderous 
tongue. 

I know others as guilty as these, who, through 
mere sloth, and because they will not take the time 
necessary to prepare themselves for communion, de- 
prive themselves of this holy sacrament, and of Jesue 
Christ himself, the most excellent of all the benefite 
contained in it. Some Christians are so indifferent 
to the things of God, that they esteem not this trea- 
sure, and a little care or a little retirement appears 
difficult to them for obtaining the possession of it 
Indeed, brethren, you are far from the sentiments of 
die saints, and particularly of the holy martyr, St. 



252 THE MEMORIAL 09 

Ignatius, who, in one of his letters has these excel 
lent words : " Let fire, crosses, wild beasts, the rend- 
ing of all my members, all the torments of the world, 
and all those the devils can invent, fall upon me, 
provided I may be worthy to enjoy Jesus Christ." 
This holy man desired to be exposed to all the mar- 
tyrdoms which the cruelty of the devils could make 
him suffer, that he might by these means go to Jesus 
Christ: and will you, knowing that Jesus Christ 
comes to you in this sacrament, think much of taking 
a little pains to dispose yourself, by prayer and con- 
fession, for the fruition of your God? Can any 
greater folly be imagined, than to let yourself perish 
for hunger, for fear of stretching forth your hands to 
a great banquet which is prepared for you ? " The 
sluggard," says the wise man, " hideth his hand un- 
der his arm-pit, and will not so much as bring it to 
his mouth." Frov. xix. 24. In truth, there can 
nothing be conceived more abominable, and I see 
not what excuse you can make at the day of judg- 
ment for having on so small an occasion contemned 
the greatest of all remedies, and the most precious of 
God's gifts. 

Neither allege to me that you abstain from it 
through respect ; and that if you long delay your 
s^proach to the communion, it is that you may come 
to it with greater reverence. One of the many ef- 
fects produced by this holy sacrament is, that the 
frequenting it augments our esteem of it. Amongst 
moDy too frequent conversation breeds contempt; 



A CTIRISTtAX LIFE. 



253 



bui in the communion with Jesus Christ, when you 
receive him worthily, grace is given you with him, 
who is the fountain of all grace, and the oftener you 
receive him the more grace you receive; and the 
iflore grace increases, the more is fear, love, devotion, 
humility, and all other virtues, which proceed from 
grace, and are the true preparations that this august 
sacrament requires, increased in you. Those who 
i^ceiye it seldom, deprive themselves of these fruits, 
ind undoubtedly receive it with less devotion. , St.. 
Oregory affords us another proof of it, by the differ- 
ence he puts between the taste of the spiritual and 
corporal delights. " The one," says this saint, 
speaking of sensual desires, " inflames us with desire, 
whilst uji enjoyed ; but as soon as we are possessed 
of them, they tire and disgust us ; as appears in two 
persons, of which the one is hungry and the other 
filled. But the other, (that is, spiritual delights,) 
are of a very different nature ; they are not desired 
before they are possessed, because they are not 
known ; but when they are once tasted, the posses- 
sion of them augments the desire; one is never 
satisfied with them, and those that feed on them find 
what Wisdom says : * They that eat me shall still 
hunger, and they that drink me shall still thirst.' " 
Whence it is easy to conclude^ that if the desire and 
hunger after this heavenly bread make one of the 
principal dispositions we ought to bring to the re- 
ceiving it ; and if it be true, that the desire increases 
by the possession of this bread of life, which is the 



<254 THS MEMORIAL 09 

delight of the saints ; it is also clear, that the mori 
you shall receive it, the more you will desire it, and 
the more worthily you will receive it ; and, on the 
contrary, if you long delay yottr coming to it, since 
on the one side, you will want this great help, and 
on the other, your sins will be multiplied for want 
of using it, this delay will undoubtedly be the cause 
that you will not make so good a communion. 

You will tell me again, that you find in yourself 
much weakness, that you are a sinner, and that yon 
hold yourself unworthy this heavenly food. I an- 
swer you, that not finding yourself burdened with 
any mortal sin, you ought to come to it for this very 
reason that keeps you back. This sacrament obtains 
the pardon of sins ; it gives strength to those that 
are weak ; it is the cure of the sick, and the trea* 
sure of the poor ; wherefore some saints have said, 
that often, by the virtue of this sacrament^ have at- 
trito men become contrite ; which is no less than to 
say, that of the dead they became living. Remember 
that Jesus Christ did eat with publicans and sinners, 
and that he said to the Jews, who were scandalized 
at it, " They that are in health need not a physician, 
but they that are ill ;" and " I am not come to call 
the just, but sinners." (Matt. ix. 12, 13.) It is good 
to refrain from this sacrament through fear, and it 
is good to come to it through love, because both the 
one and the other honor God ; but, as St. Thomas 
determines, it is better to draw near through love, 
than to keep back through fear ; because, generallj 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 265 

Speaking, actions which are done for love, arc heitit 
and more excellent than those that are done for fear* 
Wherefore we read, that David, having seen how 
God had slain Osa for the little respect he bore to 
the ark of the testament, durst not bring it into hi8 
own house, but carried it aside into that of Obededom ; 
but seeing how God had heaped upon Obededom 
and his whole family happiness and prosperity, then 
casting off all the fear which had terrified him, and 
being encouraged by the marks God had given him 
of his goodness, he received the ark into his palace, 
and with it all sorts of benedictions. 



CHAPTER TX 



0/ the Cause why some Persons find Utile Devotion 
when they Celebrate or Communicate. 

I KNOW some questions may be asked on this oc- 
casion ; and because they appear not without grbund, 
I have thought it convenient to answer them. The 
^^first is, whence it comes to pass that some persons, 
who often celebrate and communicate, enjoy not the 

-sweetness they might expect from the use of thig 
heavenly bread ; and the secondj that tliere are 
others, who are so far from having any taste of them, 
that it does not appear they are the least advanced 

>"in' virtue, but continue still in one and the same 
state. 



256 THE MEMORIAL OF 

T answer, that this sometimes happens through the 
fault of these persons who prepare not themselves as 
they ought to communicate, or because their life is 
not regular enough ; thus it is not to be wondered 
at if they find not the satisfaction which others re- 
ceive who ^re better disposed, whose life is more per- 
fect, and their soul more pure, and consequently 
more susceptible of heavenly things. This some- 
times also happens by God's particular order, those 
who communicate contributing nothing to it through 
any fault of theirs, because this state is for their 
good. We often see the experience of it in the 
most just, who, though their fervor in prayer is no 
way abated, lose all the consolations they formerly 
found in it ; yet are not therefore less just, or lese 
agreeable to Go3, who thus tries their constancy, and 
by this means exercises and humbles them. Others 
fall into this sort of desertion, because they observe 
not in their devotion all the prudence it requires, as 
St. Bonaventure teaches us in these words; "It 
sometimes happens to spiritual persons, that the 
more they labor to acquire the devotion which is 
termed sensible, the less they find it ; and the more 
eager they are to possess it, as on holy days, and es^ 
pecially when they will communicate, the farther 
they are from it. Many are exceedingly afflicted at 
it, and in this dejection to which their heart is re- 
duced, they judge that perhaps God will not have 
them approach him in this state ; or else they believe 
that he drives them from his presence, as unworthy 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 257 

to participate of so great a sacrament ; and in these 
apprehensions they deprive themselves of the chiefest 
remedy which might cure them." Of this I could' 
easily allege to you divers reasons, some of which* 
regard the defects that happen on our. part, aiidj 
others the particular will and dispensation of God r 
but to confine ourselves to the point of which we are* 
treating, the principal and most common is, that on' 
these days and those of communion, devotion iS' 
sought with too much vehemence. Our souls, by ef-- 
forts which have perhaps somewhat of self-love, vio- 
late too much their liberty ; we stifle the power of 
nature when we labor with too great force to prese, 
%nd, as I may say, squeeze forth the juice of devo- 
tii>n. If we find it not as soon as we desire it, we 
are seized on by sorrow ; thus we remain with more- 
hardness, and less disposition to receive it ; our ownj 
forces are turned against us, and having spent our- 
selves, we become more distracted and dry. "He," 
says the wise man, " that over-much wrings the paps^ 
for milk, will draw out blood ;" and we see by ex- 
perience, that when an orange, or any other fruit, m 
too much squeezed, the juice which comes from it w 
neither so pure, nor so sweet. 

This is what befalls those who will have devotiott 
as it were by force. The afi*ections it produces are 
mote tender when the heart is more at liberty ; and 
this is the reason why we often find ourselves more, 
touched with devotion at other timefs than on great 
festivals, because the troublesome care we then take 
22* 



258 THE BfEMORIAL OF 

.to have devotion, suffocates the spirit of it ; whereas 
at other times, the desire being more moderate, the 
spirit acts with greater freedom and purity, which 
are two dispositions that very much contribute to the 
more easy finding what is sought. 

As to the second Ijuestion, why some of those that 
celebrate or communicate often make not the least 
progress, not only in devotion, but even in common 
virtues, and that, on the contrary, they are always 
aeen to continue in the same coldness and negligence ; 
a wise doctor answers, that, regularly speaking, this 
happens for two reasons ; the one, through the de- 
fault of their indevout preparation, as we have al- 
"peady said, touching the want of devotion : they pre- 
sent not themselves to the divine mysteries with that 
fervor of charity, and that spiritual hunger, which 
such excellent things deserve; they come to them 
either through custom or necessity, and having re- 
ceived them, lose at the same time all remembrance 
of them ; they immediately open the door to all 
manner of other objects, and put not the least re- 
straint on their tongue, or the desires of their heart ; 
so that going without respect, and returning without 
recollection, it is no wonderthey gain so little benefit 
by it. I mentioned to you in the beginning of this 
book, that true maxim, that all things work according 
to the dispositions they find in the subjects, which is 
confirmed by the example of this great sacrament : 
it actB in souls according to the disposition it meeta 



A CHRISTIAN LIFS. 259 

•nth in thein ; it acts much in such as are well pre- 
pared, and operates less in those who are not so. 

The other cause is, that many people frequent the 
holy altars, who still keep in their souls certain de- 
fects, and certain secret passions, of which they make 
no account ; and for want of correcting and mortify- 
ing them, they become almost irremediable. These 
secret evils are a great obstacle to the advancement 
of those souls, and I put in the first place the excess 
of self-love and self-will, the over-curious care of the 
body, and the satisfaction of the senses, which make 
those who are subject to them seek in all things the 
means to divert themselves. They lay themselves 
out on creatures, amongst which devotion is dissipated, 
or wholly lost ; they are like those vessels of ill-baked 
day, which cannot hold the liquor put into them, but 
let it run out by little and little, till there is nothing 
left in them. This misfortune particularly befalls 
those who amuse themselves in vain conversations, 
and discourses of raillery, or embarrass themselves 
with unnecessary visits or affairs ; — for, in fine, all 
these things disorder the place where this heavenly 
Bridegroom is to take his rest ; the love of Grod is a 
f^ery delicate thing ; it admits no rivals, it will 
the whole heart. 



260 TBI MSHORIAL Of 

CHAPTER X. 

Whether it he good to Communicate very oft/tn. 

After my exhorting you, as I have done in the 
foregoing chapter, to frequent the sacraments, and 
particularly that of the eucharist, you have reason to 
ask me, would I prescribe you some rule, and tell you 
the time to which you shall limit your communions 

The answer to the question is, on the one side, 
very easy, and on the other, very difficult ; for if we 
only regard the virtue and efficacy of this sacrament, 
how Jesus Christ resides in it, who is the Author of 
all graces, and that by this means he applies to ofi 
the merits of his passion, which is of an infinite value, 
we ought, if we could, to receive him an infinity of 
times, since we receive by him a proportionate num- 
ber of graces and favors. But, if, on the other side, 
we consider the high preparation this sacrament re- 
quires, according to which it communicates its virtue ; 
and that it is the sacrament of the living, and not of 
the dead, since eating supports life ; in this view it is 
clear, that it is not fit to communicate often, but ac- 
cording to the disposition that is found in the com- 
municants ; on which there are yet many things that 
are necessary to be examined. 

First, the state or condition of every one is to be 
considered ; for persons dedicated to God's service, as 
priests, monks, nuns, and all other religious persons, 
being more free from the perplexity of the world, 
*nd the care of secular business, have undoubtedly. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE 1^1 

in respect of their state, greater disposition to ap- 
proach this sacrament. I say in respect of their state, 
because Jesus Christ often supplies it by his wisdom, 
which he gives to whom he pleases, as he pleases, 
and in what state soever. David, Abraham, Job, 
and many ancient kings and patriarchs, were raised 
to a great perfection, though their state contributed 
little to the attaining it; but they were assisted by 
divine grace, which is more powerful than all states, 
how perfect soever they may be. 

Secondly, care must be taken that every one, be- 
fore all things, discharge the duties of the state tp 
which he is called ; and in such manner apply him- 
self to spiritual exercises, that they no way prejudice 
these first and stricter obligations. A married wo- 
man, who is obliged to serve her husband, to breed 
up her children, to look particularly after her daugh- 
ters, to take care of her domestic affairs, ought in 
such manner to give herself to matters of devotion, 
that she omit not those which are of obligation, since 
the one is of free will, and the other of necessity ; 
the one is of counsel^ the other of commandment. 
One of the principal foundations of a good life is, 
never to leave the works of justice for those of grace. 
*• Obedience is better than sacrifices," (1 Kings xv. 
22.) said a holy prophet ; and he calls obedience 
•whatsoever is of obligation, and sacrifice what is of 
devotion and free will. Men, through a perverse in- 
clination, have almost a natural opposition to this 
•rder, and take m>^re pleasure to do their own will. 



282^ TETB MEMORIAL Of 

than another's. Take heed of this, and observe that 
what I have said of the duties of women towards 
their husbands and children, concerns also those of 
children to their parents, especially if they are poor, 
old, or weak. The services you shall do them in 
theix necessities make a part of the first command- 
ment of the second table ; and, after what we owe to 
God, it is the first obligation he lays upon us. The 
irrational creatures, through the sole instinct of na- 
ture, invite you to it by their example ; and the storks 
with wonderful care assist those from whom they had 
their being, in their later years. Use then the sa- 
craments in such sort that you forget not obligations 
80 just and so important as these, for otherwise your 
devotion will not be acceptable to God. 

In the third place, every one ought to examine 
himself, and thoroughly consider what he undertook 
when he took up this custom of communicating 
often : he must look whether he finds himself in dis- 
positions pure enough, and, as I may say, with all 
the apparel of virtues which are necessary for the 
worthy persevering in this excellent design. If it be 
so, they may continue without fear, and with much 
profit ; for as trees that are wont to be watered, grow 
dry when they want this relief, so souls which are 
accustomed to this heavenly food, are exceedingly 
weakened when they are deprived of this benefit, 
which is so great, and so proportioned to their neces- 
%ities ; they are often seen to grow very slack in their 
■piritual life, and sometimes entirely to renounce what 



A CnRfSTIAN LIFB. 26S 

thoy had happily begun. It is a thing generally 
eonfirmed by experience, that weak bodies, being 
once used to a medicine which does them good, find 
themselves very ill when they quit it : it is the same 
with souls of this quality, if through their own fault 
they discontinue the use of so wholesome a remedy. 
Thus it is for them to know the advantages they 
draw from it, and then to watch carefully over their 
lives, so as to keep themselves in so pure a state, that 
Ihey may continue the frequent use of it without 
scruple, since they run the hazard of losing their 
strength, and fainting by the way, if they forsake so 
powerful and so efficacious an assistance. 

It is also to be observed, that men may take more 
liberty to go forth of their house whither they shall 
think convenient, to seek the sacraments, and priests 
which may administer them to them, than is fit for 
women. The same thing is also more seemly for 
elderly than for young women ; and, generally speak- 
ing, all the saints have very much recommended to 
the younger women the keeping retired and out 
of the sight of people. Even in the old law, Al- 
mighty God expressly commanded the men to appear 
before him thrice a year in his temple, never obliged 
the women to come thither, so much as once in their 
whole life. Deut. xvi. 16. The Eternal Wisdom 
knew how dangerous it is for this sex to be gadding 
abroad ; and Dina, Jacob's daughter, showed but too 
sad air experience of it ; for by only once going forth 
of her father'^s house, she destroyed herself, and a 



264 THE MEMORIAL Of 

whole city with her. Gen. xxxiv. Wherefore iic4 
without cause does St. Ambrose praise the blessed 
Virgin, that departing out of her house, where she 
nad always kept herself retired, she went in great 
haste when she was obliged to go and visit her cou- 
sin, St. Elizabeth. Liike i. 39. I say not this to im- 
pose a perpetual cloister on maidens, but to exhort 
them to speak as much as they can to God in private, 
to seek him in the most secret corners of their 
houses, and to go as little abroad as is possible, un- 
less it be on such days as the church command, or 
when, according to custom, they are to receive the 
blessed sacrament, doing it with the circumspect I 
advise them to. I make not this, however, a general 
rule, for such persons are to be excepted from it, who, 
though young in years, are yet very old in virtue. 

In fine, every one ought to consult his conscience, 
and consider what benefit he receives by frequent com- 
munion ; for if a person by often receiving finds him- 
self more devout, more recollected, more circumspect 
in his words, more diligent in good works, more vigi- 
lant over his actions, more master over his passions 
and other irregular desires, though it be not in a very 
eminent degree, it is a proof that this sacrament is 
profitable to him, and therefore he ought to come the 
oftener to it, as he receives from it more advantageous 
effects ; but if he sees nothing of all this in himself, 
it is an assured mark of the little profit he gets by 
it, and of the slender preparation he makes for it 
h' is, therefore fit for such a person either to abate 



k CHRISTIAN LIFE. 266 

tJie number of his eommuQions, or to augment ihe 
virtues which are necessary for his communicating 
well. It is, notwithstanding true, that this divine mys- 
tery sometimes works so secretly that it can scarce 
be perceived; for grace, as well as nature, acts or- 
dinarily by little and little, as it happens in plants, 
the growth whereof is imperceptible, and not to be 
discerned till they have attained their just height. 
Wherefore we ought not on this occasion to rely on 
our own judgment, but be guided by our confessor, 
who may determine all according to his prudence. 

In the meantime it is of very great importance to 
observe, that we not only profit when we go forward, 
but also when we go not backward. I know St. 
Bernard says, that " in the way of God, not to go 
forward is to go backward : one may, nevertheless, 
more easily perceive when he turns back than when 
he goes forward ; as the motion of a stone is mor« 
clearly discerned, which with violence rolls down a 
hill, than that of another which is insensibly thrust 
upwards ; for to increase is very hard, and to de- 
crease is very easy ; and it is easier to pull down 
tfian to build." &rm. 2 Purif, et Ep. 324. Where- 
fore I say, that if on the one side we observe we 
make but little progress by often frequenting the 
communion ; and on the other side also perceive, 
that by discontinuing it we turn backward, fall into 
notable defects, and find ourselves more unable to 
resist temptations, more cold in prayer, more reluc- 
tant to obedience, more slothful io works of mercy, 
23 



266 THE MEMORIAL OF 

more easily provoked to unseemly laughter, oi to 
vain or idle talk ; more impatient in troubles, and, 
in fine, more careless and negligent in watching over 
ourselves and our actions ; if, I say, we perceive that 
we fall into all these inconveniences, or into any of 
them, when we refrain from the holy sacrament, and 
that when we receive it we are less subject to them 
it is a sign we profit by it ; because to suffer lesa 
damage is in some sort to profit, and medicines which 
preserve from distempers are no less necessary than 
those which increase health. This consideration 
ought very much to comfort those who do not so 
clearly perceive in themselves the fruits of the comr 
munion ; and though these persons often commit venial 
sins, they ought not therefore to abstain from com- 
municating, provided they seriously repent them of 
their sins ; for, as St. Hilary says, " we ought not to 
forsake the wholesome medicine of our Lord's body, if 
we bring not to it mortal sins ; on the contrary, this 
reason rather obliges us to have recourse to it, since 
one of the effects of the holy sacrament, and its par- 
ticular virtue, is to serve for a preservative againsi 
these sorts of sins, without which this life cannot be 
passed over." 

All these things being supposed, there is none but 
may easily judge whether he ought to present him- 
gelf at this heavenly table seldom or often, for \t 
will be sufficient for some to communicate on the 
principal festivals of the year, for others once a 
month or once in fifteen days, and for others once 



k CHRISTIAN LIFE. 267 

©very week, as St. Augustin advises: "wherewith 
all sorts of persons, how virtuous soever, ought to 
content themselves, unless there happen any particu- 
lar circumstance of important cause, which may 
oblige them to do otherwise. For as there is no rule 
without exception, so nothing can be established as 
perpetual that has not some limitation." Lib, de 
Ecd, Dog. c. 58. This is St. Bonaventure's advice 
in a treatise of perfection, which he wrote for one of 
his sisters, where he has in substance the same things 
we have here explained. His words are these : " If 
any one desire to know whether it is better to com- 
municate seldom or often, it seems impossible to me 
to prescribe in this one general rule for all. For the 
merits of men, as also their designs and exercises, 
being different, the motions of the Holy Ghost dif- 
fers, q^nd there being so many several states of life 
in the world, it is as difficult to make one general 
rule that may be suitable for them all, as one gar- 
ment to fit every person. Wherefore, as one and the 
same medicine is not administered to all patients, 
nor yet in the same quantity ; and as to render it 
beneficial, the quality of the persons and diseases, 
their complexions, the time and place must be consid- 
ered ; so the same thing is to be done in what concerns 
this heavenly medicine. Those that are entangled 
with the cares and troubles of the world can more 
rarely get rid of them to receive, than they who are 
free from all this incumbrance, and have dedicated 
their lives to spiritual exercises. And amongst 



268 THE MEMORIAL OF 

these, some are more vigilant over their conduct, and 
live with greater purity of conscience than othecs; 
some burn with a desire to participate of this holy 
mystery ; others, on the contrary, approach it not 
without fear and trembling ; and if their conscience, 
the order established in their religion, and the ap- 
prehension of being more separated from Almighty 
God by not communicating, did not press them, they 
would be seen to come very seldom to the holy table. 
But I am of opinion, that priests, whose proper office 
it is to celebrate, being excepted, there are few per- 
sons for whom it is not sufficient to communicate 
once a week, if there be not some particular cause or 
reason to do otherwise ; as if some sickness should 
happen, or ' some principal feast, or a pious soul 
should find itself pressed by some new and extraor- 
dinary desire to receive him who alone is capable to 
moderate and refresh the heat of a heart that burns 
with his love. It may, in this case, be piously be- 
lieved that this vehemence and fervor proceed from 
the Holy Ghost, if other circumstances concur with 
it ; and then it seems that there is reason not to re- 
sist it. Experience confirms this conduct, and there 
have been persons seen whose life was Jesus Christ, 
in such sort, that if they had not been often fed with 
this sacred bread, it seemed their corporal life would 
have failed them, so weak and feeble was their body. 
It is therefore a good and wholesome thing to pre- 
pare one's-self frequently for the receiving this ad* 
mirable remedy with all the devotion that is dne to 



A CIIBISTTAN LIFE. 269 

it, and afler one has received it, to watch over one's- 
sclf, and all our actions, with a most exact diligence. 
From this no one has a right to be exempted, and 
religions persons, who are particularly dedicated to 
trod, much less than others, if they will obtain and 
preserve the innocence and purity which this holy 
sacrament brings. And though a man sometimes 
feels but little devotion, yet he ought not to forbear 
coming humbly to this bread of life, putting his 
whole confidence in God's mercy ; and if he judges 
himself unworthy of it^ he must also think that the 
more infirm and weak he feels himself, the more 
need he has of the physician ; since, as our Saviour 
himself has said, * the healthy have no need of a 
physician, but the sick.' Matt. ix. 12. For indeed 
we go not to Jesus Christ to sanctify him by our 
holiness, but that he may sanctify us by his. Nor 
let any one be discouraged when, after having done 
all that he could, he finds not himself touched with 
that particular sweetness of devotion he might de- 
sire, or if in and after communion he feel no sensible 
tenderness or zeal ; because it is often a particular 
dispensation of Almighty God, who sometimes de- 
prives his children of this consolation for causes best 
known to himself" The testimony of this saint 
ought to be of very great authority, this glorious 
doctor having been so remarkable as well in learning 
and holiness, as in the spirit of devotion, which he 
possessed in a high degree, which made him write on 
this subject nothing but what he knew by experiencei. 



S70 THB MEMORIAL Of 

You see then by the testimony of this father, and 
by whatsoever else I have hitherto represented to 
you, the little reason some men have, who, through 
a superfluous zeal and under pretence of respect, 
condemn, and proceed even to preach against such 
persons as frequent the sacraments. Though there 
were some sort of excess in this, yet there are so 
many other evils in the world, greater and more dan- 
gerous to be apprehended, that they ought not to 
spend all their strength and learning, as they do, in 
attacking this alone ; especially since things being 
well considered, it is manifest that the world suffers 
much more damage by overmuch abstaining from the 
sacraments, than by too often coming to them. And 
the better to understand this, you shall observe, ac- 
cording to the doctrine of St. Thomas, (1. 2. q, 64. 
art. 1.) that as all moral virtues consist in a mean, 
80 they have necessarily two vices which are opposite 
to them, the one by excess, and the other by defect : 
though they have not always names by which they 
may be distinguished : it is the same in the use of the 
fiacraments, and generally in all spiritual exercises 
there may be either too much or too little. This be- 
ing true, if we will equitably consider the greater and 
more to be feared of these two extremities, we shall 
find that the world undoubtedly suffers far more in- 
conveniences by too much forbearing, than by too 
touch frequenting the sacraments. For supposing 
there were some fault on this side, yet who cannot 
but know that the impropriety must be much greater 



▲ OHBISTIAN LIFB. 871 

to see men almost wholly refrain from the sacra- 
ments, in which God has placed the remedies of our 
wounds, and the salvation of our souls? And^ in 
effect, whence comes it that this age is so corrupt, 
and the life of men so profligate, but from their con- 
tempt of this sacrament and voluntary abandoning 
this bread of life ? To be convinced of this, we 
need only cast our eyes on the difference there is be- 
tween the present time in which we live, when those 
that bear the name of Christians communicate but 
once a year, and the past time of the primitive 
church, when those who were truly Christians com- 
municated every day : this great difference, brethren, 
will amaze you, and clearly show you which of these 
two is the better. Let those then who have a zeal for 
the glory of God and his church, send forth cries to 
heaven, and weep for a cause so worthy of tears, to 
see men so strangely separated from God, and all 
spiritual exercises, since this separation is truly the 
source and original of all our miseries- 

As magistrates take all imaginable care to procur-e 
that nothing may be wanting to the people who are 
subject to their government, being certain that 
abundance never discontents them, though they know 
that excess in diet, and all other conveniences of life, 
may as well be prejudicial to the public as necessity; 
eo those who bear office in the church are obliged to 
nse more diligence to keep them who are under their 
-^narge from falling into a scarcity of spiritual food 

a heavenly medicines, than they are to* retrench 



272^ tHk MEMORIAL OF 

their excess : since want is in this case incomparal ly 
more dangerous than abundance, and that so much 
the more, because none can judge of this last, but 
bj their interior, which every one knows not, and it 
being great rashness to pronounce decrees on an af- 
feir the bottom whereof is not known. 

I believe that what we have said is more that suf- 
ficient to convince you of these truths ; I shall only 
•dd here some mediations and prayers for your de- 
votion, before and after the holy communion. 



A Meditation l)efore holy Comrmimon^ to stir up %n 
the Sovl the Fear and L&ve of the most holy Sa* 
erament 

Who art thou, my Lord, and what am I, that I 
should presume to approach thee ? What is man that 
he should receive his God ? What is man of him- 
self but a vessel of corruption, and by mortal sin 
becomes a child of the devil, an heir of hell^ an 
enemy of God, a creature weak to do good, and 
unhappily powerful to do evil ? What is man ? A 
creature blind in his designs, vain in his actions^ 
filthy in his desires, inconstant in his purposes, vile 
and base in all things, and only great in the false 
esteem he has of himself 1 Shall so miserable a 
creature dare to present himself before the divme 
Majesty to be united with him ? The stars, l/oru, 
are not pure in thy sight, the pillars of heaven trem- 
ble before thee>tbe highest seraphim cover themselYes 



A ClfRTSTlAN LIFE. 27H' 

with their wings in the presence of thy greatness, 
and look on themselves as nothing ; {Job. xxvi. 11.) 
how then shall so wretched a creature as I am, at- 
tempt to approach thee, and receive thee in the holy 
eucharist? St. John Baptist, sanctified from his 
mother^s womb, dares not touch thy head, and de- 
clares he is not worthy to untie thy shoes ; (^Matt. 
iii. 11.) the prince of the apostles cries out, and 
says, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 
Lord ;" (^Lulce v. 8.) and shall I have the boldness to 
eome near thee, being filled with sins ? If in the 
time of thy ancient law the loaves which were set on 
the table of thy temple, and were only the shadow 
of this mystery, might not be eaten but by him that 
was clean and sanctified, (1 Kings xxi. 4, 5.) how 
shall not 1, who am so void of all holiness, dread to 
eat the bread of angels ? Thou, God, commandest 
that the paschal lamb should be eaten with unleaven- 
ed bread, and bitter lettuce, and that the eaters of 
it should have their shoes on their feet, and their 
reins girt ; (^Exod. xii. 8, &c.) and shall I dare to 
eat the true Paschal Lamb, of which the other was 
but a figure, without having this preparation ? Am 
I that unleavened bread, clear and free from any 
leaven of malice ? Have I in me the sentiments of 
that true contrition, which was signified by the bitter 
lettuce ? Where is the chastity of my reins, and 
the cleanness of my feet, which are good desires ? I 
fear, and have great reason to fear at my approach to 
thia holy table, seeing myself void of all these dispo* 



274 THB MEMORIAL OF 

sitions. I'rom this table was that wretched man 
driven, who was found to be without his wedding 
garment, that is, without charity; and was com- 
manded to be bound hand and foot, and cast into 
utter darkness. Matt. xxii. 11, &c. Nor can I but 
expect the same punishment, if I present myself to 
it in the same condition. Divine eyes of my Master, 
CO which all the secrets of our souls lie open, what 
shall become of me, if I am found thus naked at 
your banquet ? It was so criminal a thing for a 
priest to have inconsiderately touched the ark of the 
covenant, which was ready to fall, that he was im- 
mediately punished with sudden death ; (2 Kings vi. 
6.) and ought not I to fear the same punishment, if 
I unworthily receive him who was figured by that 
ark ? The Bethsamites did but too curiously behold 
the same ark, when it passed through their land, and 
the Scripture teaches us, that for the expiation of 
their rashness, God slew fifty thousand of that peo- 
ple. 1 Kings vi. 19. O most merciful and dread 
God, how far is thy sacrament above that ark, and 
how much greater is it to receive thee, than to be- 
hold thee ! What must I do to lodge within me a 
God who is greatness and justice itself 

But if I have so great reason to fear, considering 
only thy majesty, what ought I not to apprehend, if 
r cast my eyes on my sins ? Infinite Beauty, there 
was a time, and may thy mercy grant that it last not 
Btill, when thou wert that of which my heart least 
thought^ and when I had more esteem for the duv 



A CHRISTIAN LITE. 276 

of the creatures than for the treasures of thy grace, 
and the hope of thy glory : my desires gave law to 
my life, I blindly obeyed my concupiscences, and I 
made as little account of thee as if I had never 
known thee. I was tLat fool who said in his heart 
there is no God, (^Psalm xiii. 1.) because I lived a 
long time in such a manner as if I believed that 
there was none. I never did anything for love of 
thee ; I never dreaded thy justice ; I never refrained 
from evil for fear of thy laws ; I never gave thee the 
thanks I ought for thy benefits ; and knowing that 
thou art everywhere, T never abstained from sin in 
thy presence. 1 granted my eyes whatsoever they 
desired, and never used the least resistance to my 
heart to restrain it from any pleasure. There is no 
sort of wickedness of which I have not been in a 
manner culpable ; my life has been nothing but a 
continual opposition and war against thee, and re- 
newing of all the torments thou hast suffered for me. 
For when I have sometimes communicated, and as 
soon as my communion was over, began again to 
offend thee, I treated thee with the same contempt 
as did the soldiers, who on the one side adored thee 
with bended knees, and on the other struck thee on 
the head with a reed. Shall I then, my Saviour 
and my Judge, dare to receive thee into an abode so 
vile, and so full of impurity ? Shall I dare to place 
thy sacred body in a den of dragons and serpents ? 
I know that a soul in which sin dwells is the habi- 
tation of the devil, and a cave of wild beasts. Wilt 



276 THE MEMORIAL 0? 

thou, virginal purity, and fountain of all beauty, 
be contented to be lodged in so abominable a place ? 
" What fellowslnp hath light with darkness, and what 
concord hath Christ with Belial ?" (2 Cor. vi. 13, 
14.) " Flower of the field, and lily of the valleys," 
{Cant ii. 1.) wilt thou suffer thyself to be food of 
beasts? Shall this divine meat be given to dogs, 
and this precious pearl be cast before swine ? (Matt. 
vii. 6.) Lover of pure souls, who feedest among the 
lilies till the day break, and the shadows fade away, 
(Cant, iv. 5, 6.) what repose can I ofier thee in my 
heart, where, instead of flowers, grow only thorns 
and thistles ? " Thy bed is of the cedar of Libanon, 
its pillars are of silver, its seat of gold, and its going 
up of purple." (Cant. iii. 9, 10.) I have none of 
these ornaments ; what seat shall I prepare for theo 
when thou shalt come unto me? Thy sacred body 
was wrapt in a clean linen cloth, and put in a new 
sepulchre, in which no man was ever laid before ; 
(Matt, xxvii. 59, Luke xxiii. 53.) and I see nothing 
clean or new in my soul, where I may receive thee. 
My mouth has been an open sepulchre, (Psalm v. 9.) 
whence issued only stench, through the corruption of 
my sins ; my heart is an undrainable source of sinful 
diseases, and my will the seat and throne of my 
enemy. Can T then receive thee in this condition, 
and with my polluted lips give thee the kiss of 
peace? I am in confusion, seeing myself in this 
manner, my Redeemer, and am ashamed, being 
•uch as 1 am, to go into the dwelling of the heavenly 



▲ CHJUSTIAK UFB. 277 

Bridegroom^ who vouchsafes to embrace me, and 
receive me anew. 

The Second Part of this Meditation, 

I KNOW, Grod, my extreme unworthiness, and I 
know also thy great mercy ; it is this gives me the 
courage to approach thee as I am : for the more un- 
worthy I am, the more thou art glorified in not 
rejecting so poor and filthy a creature. Thou, O 
Lord, drivest not sinners away from thee ; but, on 
the contrary, callest and drawest them to thee : thou 
hast said, " Come unto me all you that labor and are 
burdened, and I will refresh you." Matt. xi. 28. 
Thou saidst, " The healthy need not the physician, 
but the sick. I am not come to call the just, but 
sinners." Mqtt. ix. 11, 12. And of thee it was pub- 
licly said, that thou receivedst and didst eat with 
sinners. Thou art still the same thou then wast, 
and I believe that thou still at this day callest from 
the height of heaven, those whom thou hast in thy 
goodness called on earth. Touched, therefore, with 
the mercy with which I know that thou callest us, I 
come unto thee oppressed with sins, to the end it 
might please thee to ease me. I come wJbh all my 
miseries and all my temptations, that I may be re- 
freshed. I come as a sick man to the physician, to 
be cured, and as a sinner to the fountain of justice, 
to be justified. I learn that thou receivest sinners, 
that thou eatest with them, and that thy greatest 
delight ig to converse with them, in order to convert 
24 



278 THE MEMORIAL OF 

them. If this manner is pleasing to thee, thou seest 
in me, who am so great a sinner, that a special grace 
is necessary to convert me. I doubt not, Lord^ 
but the tears of that public sinner, Mary Magdalen,, 
were more deligntful to thee than the Pharisee's 
sumptuous feast, since thou didst not despise her 
sorrow, nor reject her as a person defiled with sin ; 
but, on the contrary, didst accept her penance, par- 
don her ofiences, defend her against her accusers,, 
and, for the few tears which she shed, didst forgive 
her abundance of crimes. See here, O Lord, an 
opportunity to acquire thee greater glory, a sinner 
that brings to thy feet more iniquities, and fewer 
tears. Thou showest on that occasion neither the 
first nor last of thy mercies ; thou hadst before done 
many such, and thou wilt yet do many that will not 
be less remarkable. Let that which I hope for be 
one of this number. Pardon this wretch, who has 
more unworthily ofiended thee, and yet has not so 
much sorrow for his offences : I have not tears 
enough to wash thy feet, but thou hast shed as much 
blood as is suflScient to wash away all the sins of the 
world. Eyter not into indignation against me, be- 
cause, being such a one as thou seest me, I presume,, 
nevertheless, to come near thee. Kem ember that 
thou disdainest not that poor woman^ sick of an issue 
of blood, when she cast herself at thy feet, to be 
eured of her infirmity by touching the hem of thy 
garment, but, on the contrary, didst comfort her, and 
didst give her courage^ saying to her '^ Be of good 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE, 279 

heart, daughter; thy faith hath made thee whole/' 
Matt. ix. 22. I am afflicted with a more dangerous 
and more incurable disease than her's; what then 
can I do else but address myself to thee, as to the 
most powerful of all remedies for the recovery of my 
health ? Then art no less merciful on earth for be- 
ing glorious in heaven ; for didst thou there exercise 
another office, or hadst thou changed thy nature, we 
should need another gospel to teach us this diflPer- 
ence. Thy word is unchangeable, and it is by that 
I know how all sick persons ran to thee, that they 
might touch thee, because out of thee issued forth a 
virtue that eured them. The leprous came to thee; 
thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and they were 
cleansed: the blind, the deaf, the paralytic, those 
that were possessed with devils, and, in fine, all that 
were afflicted with the strangest maladies, had re- 
course to thee, and thou never refusedst them thy 
assistance. In thee is health, life, and the remedy 
of all diseases; thou art as merciful to will our 
health as thou art powerful to give it. Thus, 
Lord, to whom can we have recourse in our neces- 
sities^ but to thee ? * 

I acknowledge, indeed, that this divine sacrament 
is not only food for the strong, but also medicine for 
the sick ; that it is not only the support of the living, 
but the resurrection also of the dead ; that it not 
only fills the just with love and joy, but cleanses also 
and cures the sinner. Let every one approach it, as 
he oan, and let every one take there what is fit for 



280 THE MEMORIAL OF 

him, and what his Lord will give him ; let the juet 
come to be fed at this table, and let the voice of 
their confession and praise be heard at this sacred 
festival ; as for me, who am a sinner and sick, " I 
will take the chalice of salvation." (Psalm ex v. 13.) 
There is no way in the christian life, hj which I can 
walk out of this sacred mystery, and I see not the 
least pretence to excuse me from desiring the parti- 
cipation of it. If I am sick, this will cure me ; if I 
am in health, this will preserve me ; if I live, this 
will strengthen me ; if I am dead, this will raise me 
again to life ; if I am heated with divine love, this 
will more inflame me ; and if I am cold, this will 
heat me. I will not lose courage for that I am blind, 
because our Lord enlightens the blind ; (Psalm cxiv. 
8.) nor will I think myself without remedy for that 
I am fallen, since our Lord raises those who are 
fallen to the ground. I will not fly from his pre- 
sence, as Adam did when he knew his nakedness, for 
as much as he has the power to cover mine. I will 
not hide me from hira, because I see myself unclean, 
and all over defiled with sins, since he is the inex- 
haustible fountain of mercy ; and my poverty shall 
not hinder me from coming to him, because he is the 
master and dispenser of all created things. I do 
not believe T shall do him any injury in this ; on the 
contrary, the more miserable I am, the more re- 
markable occasion do I think to give him of making 
his mercy admired by exercising it on me. The 
scales which covered his eyes who was bo^n blind. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 281 

served only to make God's glory appear in him with 
greater lustre ; and the lowness to which I am re- 
duced will render more conspicuous the goodness of 
him who, being so great and so exalted, disdains not 
the meanest and most contemptible things ; espe- 
cially since my merits obtain not so great a privilege, 
but it is granted me in consideration of those of Je- 
sus Christ my Lord, for whose sake the eternal Fa- 
ther adopts me, and treats me as one of his children. 
Since then thou art my Father and my Saviour, I 
presume to have recourse to thee, and beg of thee 
this grace, that as David admitted one that was lame 
to his table, because he was son to his dear friend 
Jonathan, honoring thereby the merits of the father 
in the person of the son ; so" it may please thee, 
eternal Father ! to suflfer at thy table a wretched and 
deformed sinner, not for his own sake, but for the 
merits of Jesus Christ, whom thou hast so much 
loved, who is our second Adam, and true Father, 
and who lives and reigns with thee for ever. Amen. 

A Prayer after Communion, made hy St. Thomas 
of Aquin. 

I GIVE thee thanks, Holy Lord, Almighty Fa- 
ther, and Eternal God ! for all the benefits thou hast 
so bountifully bestowed on me, and particularly for 
that it has pleased thee, for no merits of mine, but 
through the sole condescension of thy mercy, to re- 
plenish me a sinner, thy unworthy servant, with the 
precious body of thy only Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. 
24* 



282 THE MEMORIAL Of 

Suffer not, 1 beseech thee, this holy communion to 
render me guilty, and liable to the punishment which 
those deserve who come unworthily to it ; but grant, 
on the contrary, that it may powerfully intercede for 
the remission of my sins. Let it be a rampart to 
preserve me in the faith, and a shield to repel the 
darts of the enemy, who ceases not to attack my will, 
that he may turn it against thee. Let it destroy all 
my vices, root out all my sensual desires, and aug- 
ment in me patience, charity, true humility, and all 
other virtues ; let it settle a firm and solid peace in 
my soul, and strongly defend me against all the as- 
saults and stratagems of my visible and invisible 
enemies ; let it unite me strictly to thee during this 
life, and make me happily end in thee ; so that, in 
fine, it may please thee to receive me, a sinner, to 
that unspeakable banquet, where thou art the true 
light, where thou fully satisfiest thy elect, and where 
thou thyself art their joy, and their perfect felicity, 
for ever and ever. Amen. 



A Meditation after Communion, 

Most gracious and most merciful God, what 
thanks can I render to thee, who, being King of 
Kings and Lord of Lords, hast this day vouchsafed 
to visit my soul, to enter into my house, and to make 
thyself one thing with me, by the inestimable virtuo 
of this holy sacrament ! How shall I acknowledge 



A CHRISTIAN LIPR 28S 

this honor ? What shall T return thee for this ben- 
efit, and what thanks canst thou receive of so poor 
and weak a creature, for so rich and precious a gift? 
For thou art not content in this admirable mystery 
to make us partakers of thy sovereign divinity, but 
hast communicated to us also thy humanity, and all 
the merits thou hast gained us by it. Thou hast 
given us herein thy flesh and thy blood, and hast 
therewith admitted us to a share in all the wealth 
and riches thou hast purchased both by the one and 
by the other. wonderful communication ! in- 
comparable gift, little indeed understood by men, 
but worthy to be celebrated with eternal praises! O 
Redeemer of our souls ! couldst thou bestow on them 
any other treasure which might be comparable to 
this ? Thy words were as full of ti-uth as of love, 
when in thy prayer thou saidst to thy Father, '* I 
sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified in 
truth." John xvii. 19, new manner of sanctify- 
ing, which costs the sanctifier so dear ! It is thou 
that bearest holiness, it is I who reap the fruit of it ; 
thou becomest poor, and I grow rich ; thou sufferedst 
the punishment, and I receive the pardon. In fine, 
thou shededst even to the last drop of thy blood, 
and I recover health and life by it. Those terrible 
sorrows which thou hast endured, those buffets, those 
thorns, those nails, and that precious blood which 
thou hast shed, have satisfied the heavenly Father 
for me. Thy tears have washed me, thy wounds have 
eured me, and the stripes thou receivedst, have paid 



284 THE MEMORIAL OF 

for me. Happy communication ! wonderful fellow- 
ship for those who have contracted it, since it renders 
such unspeakable treasures common to them ! What 
have we brought of our's, to be partakers of them? 
What have we given to receive such great things? 
It is an eiFect of thy sole grace and goodness. The 
sun enlightens, the fire warms, the water refreshes, 
because it is their nature to produce these effects, 
and it is thine, Lord, to show mercy and to par- 
don ; but what is most admirable^ to pardon others, 
and suffer thyself! Thy very nature is goodness, 
an infinite goodness, a sovereign goodness ; and it 
is the property of a sovereign goodness to com- 
municate itself sovereignly. It is thus that thou 
hast dealt with us, since thou hast given thyself en- 
tirely to us. Thou wert born in the world to become 
our brother ; thou hast instituted the blessed euchar- 
ist to be our food ; thou hast suffered death to be the 
ransom of that which we deserved ; and thou reignest 
in heaven to be our recompense. 

In fine, my soul, to speak in one word, if thou wilt 
all at once comprehend the benefits thou obtainest 
when thou receivest this divine sacrament, consider 
that which our Lord brought to the world when he 
came into it ; for as descending down on earth he 
gave us the life of grace, with whatever else accom- 
panies it ; so giving himself to thee by this way, he 
gives thee the same life. O blessed nourishment, 
by which the children of men become children of 
God, and by which our humanity dies happily, that 



A CIIRISTIA?^ LIFE. 285 

God may live in it I O bread, full of sweetness, and 
worthy our admiration, which nourish-es the soul, and 
not the flesh; which strengthenest the heart, and 
burdenest not the body ; which rejoicest the mind, 
without distracting the understanding; which, by 
thy virtue, stiflest sensuality, and destroyest in us 
our human will, that the divine may reign in its 
Btead. 

What thanks can I then give thee, my Lord, 
if the thanks ought to bear some proportion to the 
greatness of the benefit? I learn in Exodus, that 
thou commandest Moses to take a vessel of gold, to 
fill it with manna, and to lay it up in the ark of the 
testament, that it might be there kept, to put all the 
posterity of the Israelites in mind with what sort 
of nourishment their fathers were fed during forty 
years in the desert. If thou wouldst then have so 
great a value to be set on that corruptible food, and 
appointedst that it should be kept as an eternal mon- 
ument in a place of so great veneration, what esteem 
ought not we to make of this incorruptible meat, 
which gives eternal life to those who receive it wor- 
thily ? I clearly see that there is as much difi*erence 
between the first and second benefit, and consequently 
between the acknowledgment which is due to them : 
that food was earthly, this is heavenly ; that fed only 
bodies, this nourishes souls ; that gave not true life 
to those that did eat of it, this gives eternal life to 
those who feed on it ; and, in fine, there cannot be 
any comparison between them since these two meats 



286 THE MEMORIAL Of 

are as different as the creature is from the Creator 
Tf thou nevertheless, O my Saviour, wouldst that 
the memory of this first favor should never be abol- 
ished, but that the people should pay thee a perpetual 
homage for having preserved their lives by this cor- 
ruptible and perishable manna ; what oughtest thott 
to expect from us, to whom thou hast given eternal 
life by this heavenly and divine bread ? Man is too 
weak to give thee thanks for it, and it would be a 
rashness to think of finding in this life the praise* 
we owe thee. There remains then in my inability no 
other remedy for the acquitting myself of my duty, 
but to have recourse to thee thyself, and say to thee 
with thy prophet, " I will take the chalice of salva- 
tion, and will invoke the name of the Lord ;" (Psalm 
cxv. 13.) that is, I will pay my debts by new obliga- 
tions, and beg of thee new favors for the sake of the 
first. I beseech thee then, Lord, that thou wilt 
be pleased to accept this venerable sacrament in sat- 
isfaction for all my faults and all my sins, and to ob- 
tain the entire and perfect amendment of my life ; 
repair by it all my falls, and supply by it all the de- 
fects which spring from my misery ; destroy in me 
by it whatsoever may be displeasing to thy divine 
eyes, and make me one according to thy will ; grant 
me by it that I may strongly adhere to thee, per- 
fectly and constantly love thee, and continue united 
in thee, to the honor and glory of thy name. Show 
mercy to all sinners ; bring back to thy church all 
those whom heresy and schism have separated from 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 287 

il ; enlighten all the faithful to know thee better ; 
succor all those that are in trouble and affliction ; 
assist all those for whom I am obliged to offer thee 
ray pra,yers ; comfort those who have given me birth 
and education, my kinsfolk, benefactors, friends, and 
enemies; take pity on all those for whom thou hast 
slied thy blood ; pardon the living, and fill them with 
thy graces, and grant to the dead rest and eternal 
glory : who livest and reisnest world without ead. 
Amen. 



A Meditation for tme to exercise himself in on the 
day of Holy Communion, in considering the greai" 
ness of this Mystery^ and giving thanks to our 
Ijord for this incomparable Benefit. 

Were all creatures, both in heaven and earth, to 
|oin themselves with me to give thee thanks for the 
benefit I come now from receiving, yet they would 
not, O my God, be able to perform it as it merits. 
What praises, my Saviour, shall I give thee, for 
having on this happy day vouchsafed to visit me, 
comfort me, and favor me with thy presence I When 
the mother of the precursor, filled with the Holy 
Ghost, saw entering into her house the Virgin who 
bore thee m her womb, amazed at so great a wonder, 
she cried out, " Whence is this to me, that the mo- 
ther of my Lord should come to me ?^' (^Luke i. 43.) 
What ought I then to do, who am but a worm of the 
earth, seeing that my mouth has received, and my 



288 THE MfiMOlUAL Of 

stomach contained a consecrated host, in which id 
comprehended the same God who came to visit St. 
Elizabeth ? With how much more reason may 1 
cry out, whence is this extraordinary favor befallen 
me, that not only the mother of my God, but my 
God himself and the sovereign Lord of all things, 
has been pleased to come to me, who have so long 
been the habitation of Satan ; to me, who tave so 
often offended him ; to me, who have so often op- 
posed his will, and by my so frequently rejecting 
him, rendered myself unworthy to receive him? 
Whence, then, have I this favor, that the King of 
Kings and Lord of Lords is come to me ? that he 
whose throne is in heaven, whose " footstool is on 
earth," (^Psalm xcviii. 5.) whose officers are angels, 
whose praises are published by the stars of the morn- 
ing, and whose power governs the whole earth, should 
so far abase himself as to come into so contemptible 
a place ? Thou, my King, wouldst be born in a 
stable amongst beasts, wouldst be delivered into the 
hands of sinners, and descend even to hell. It well 
appears, my God, that thou art not changed, and 
that thou retainest the same love for sinners, since 
thou still dost every day what thou once didst for 
them. 

Had thy goodness condescended to come unto m« 
m any other manner, it had still been an effect of 
thy very great mercy : but now, Lord, that thou 
hast not only been pleased to visit me, but hast alse 
Touchsafed to enter under my roof, to dwell in me. 



A CHRISTIA!? LIFE. 289 

ta transform me into thee, and make me one and the 
same thing with thyself, by so admirable a union, 
that thy sacred mouth has found nothing more fit to 
express it, than to compare it with the union which 
thou hast with thy Almighty Father : this is what 
far surpasses, and is altogether incomprehensible to 
human understanding. , Dayid wondered at thy care 
of man, when he said, " What is man that thou art 
mindful of him ?" (Pscdm viii. 5.) But it is far 
more to be admired, ihsi God not only remembers 
man, but that he makes himself man for him, that 
he dwells with him, that he dies for him^ that be 
feeds him with his own flesh and blood, and makes 
himself one and the same thing with him. Solomon 
begged of God, if it were possible, that he would ac- 
tually reside in the temple he had been so many 
years building; but it is a much greater wonder 
that God, who dwells in the heavens, should, after a 
far more excellent manner, make his abode in a poor 
Boul, who has scarcely labored so much as one only 
day to prepare him a lodging. All created nature 
is wrapt with admiration to see God made man ; to 
see him descend from heaven to earth, and continue 
nine months enclosed in a \irgin's womb. These 
indeed are wonderful things, and fit to be admired ; 
but it is ajso true, that the womb of this virgin was 
filled with the Holy Ghost, that it was purer than 
the stars of heaven, and so a lodging made worthy 
of the Son of God. But that this Lord should 
dwell in my heart, that he would choose for his ha- 
25 



290 THE MEMORIAL Of 

bitation a place sowfilthy and full of darkness, is the 
highest and most amazing excess to which his mercy 
could descend. Let the angels then bless thee, 
my Lord, for so excellent a favor, and so incompara- 
ble a mercy. Thou well showest that thou art the 
supreme Good, since thou vouchsafest so perfectly to 
communicate thyself, and hast invented so admirable 
a means to render us partakers of thy goodness. 

But how far ought our admiration and ottr ac* 
knowledgment to extend, if we consider what the 
new benefit is, and what the privilege, which this di» 
vine sacrament brings us ! What does the church 
teach me of the happiness that befalls me, and the 
good thou dost me in this venerable mystery ? T 
have here a seal marked with thy name, for an in* 
riolable assurance that thou art my Father, and not 
only my Father, but also the Bridegroom of my soul, 
since I understand that the principal eifect of this 
sacrament is to entertain our souls witn spiritual de- 
lights, and to make them one and the same thing. 
If it be so, and if the heart is to be judged by the 
works, who can doubt but that thou discoverest to 
us^ in this admirable work, a fatherly heart, and art 
indeed a Father ? Masters are not wont to use ca- 
resses towards their servants, but fathers towards 
their children ; and that principally while they are 
yet little, and whilst they love them with most ten- 
derness ; for it is the father's goodness to give them 
in that age, not only what is necessary for their life, 
but also for their recreation. Thou didst not here- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 291 

tofore treat thy people in this manner ; thou (Jealest 
with them like a lord and master ; thou kept this 
great eiFect of thy love a long time concealed from 
the world and delayedst the discovery of it till the 
time of thy coming on earth, with the happy tidings 
of the gospel. Thus, in all thy other sacraments, 
and in all thy other benefitSj thou hast only shown 
me that thou art my King, my Saviour, my Pastor, 
my Physician ; but in this, in which thou wouldst 
after so high a manner unite thyself to my soul, and 
love her with such wonderful tenderness, thou hast 
very clearly made known, that thou art my Bride* 
groom, that thou art my Father, and such a father 
as loves his children with incomparable goodness. 
This is what I manifestly discern, and this is what 
all the favors thou showest me in this sacrament suf- 
ficiently teach me. There is no deceit in thy works 
as they show outwardly, so they are inwardly ; for 
by the effects I know the cause,— by the works I 
judge what is the heart ; and thou canst not treat 
me with so much indulgence and sweetness, without 
having for me a true fatherly heart. If the manna, 
in which were found all sorts of tastes, and whatso- 
ever the mouth could desire most agreeable and deli- 
cious, was a mark of thy affection, and the tender- 
ness of thy heart towards thy first-born children ; 
what must the love be which thou at this day bear- 
est us, since thou so liberally givest us thy divine 
manna, which as far exceeds the manna of the desert 
in sweetness, as heaven is above the earth ! celes- 



292 THE MEMORIAL OF 

tial nourishment, bread of life, fountain of d-elighU, 
vein of all virtues, death of all vices, fire of divine 
love, medicine of health, refection of souls, health 
of spirits, royal and divine banquet, and admirable 
taste of eternal felicity ! What shall I say then, O 
my Grod ? What thanks can I give thee ? With 
what excess of love can I acknowledge so extraordi- 
nary a benefit ? If, being what thou art, thou so 
lovest a vile creature, who is less than a worm of the 
earthy how should not I love thee, my God, who, 
with all thy greatness, and all thy majesty, conde- 
scendedst to be the bridegroom of my soul ! Let me 
love thee, then, O Lord ; let me desire thee above all 
things ; be thou my meat and my drink. delight- 
ful sweetness ! love, whose pleasure is inestima- 
ble ! let my soul feed on thee, and let my heart be 
filled with thy delights ! food more delicious than 
whatsoever is most pleasing on earth ! meat of the 
strong ! make me to grow in thee ; augment what 
thy presence gives to me, that I may be worthy hap- 
pily to enjoy thee ! Children of Adam, blind men, 
what is it you do ? What do you pretend to in the 
world ? If you seek love, here is the noblest and 
sweetest that can be desired. If you look for pleas- 
ures, where will you find so great or so pure as these ? 
If you aim at wealth, here is the treasure of heaven, 
the price of the world, and an ocean of riches ; in 
fine, if you aspire to honors, you will find here all the 
majesty of God, who comes to honor you. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 293 

The Second Part of this Meditation. 
Since thou hast already done me the fever tO' 
receive me into thy company, to place me at thj 
table, to give me share of thy banquet, to heap on- 
me thy benefits, to bind me to thee with such strong^ 
and strait bonds of love, I from this time, my 
Saviour, renounce all earthly things for love of 
thee. Let there be no longer any world for me, or 
any worldly vanity; begone from me ye deceitfaf 
goods, which I have so much loved ; here is the only 
and sovereign good. It is not reasonable that, hav- 
ing tasted the bread of angels, T should return to the 
food of beasts ; it is not fit that, having received 
G-od into my house, I should let any thing vain or" 
unprofitable enter into it. Should a woman of mean 
condition be married to a king, she would soon leave- 
that state of poverty which environed her, to appear 
in the equipage of a queen. This ought my soul to 
imitate, for, having been exalted to the dignity in 
which this august sacrament has placed her, how can* 
she again debase herself to the infamous condition to- 
which her old habits had reduced her ? How catt 
she open that heart to worldly thoughts, into whicb 
she has already received the Lord of the World?' 
How can she lodge in herself any profane thing; 
having been consecrated by the divine presence'^ 
Solomon could not consent that his wife, who was 
daughter to king Pharaoh, should dwell in his house 
at Jerusalem, because the ark of the testament had 

sometime reposed in it. 2 Parol, viii. 11. If this 
25» 



294 THE MEMORIAL OF 

80 wise and understanding a king would not j ermil 
his lawful wife, who was a princess of so great qual- 
ity, to inhabit a palace where the ark of God had a 
little while remained, only because this princess was 
descended of a heathen family, ^an I suffer any thing 
that is wicked and heathenish in a heart where God 
himself would stay ? What a disorder would it be, 
that impious desires should be still found in a place 
where God has made his abode ; or that a mouth, 
through which he has graciously condescended to 
pass, should utter filthy words ! Solomon having 
once sacrificed in the porch of the temple, ordained 
that it should remain sanctified, and never after be 
put to any profane use ; (3 Kings viii. 64.) is it not 
much more fit that my soul should be now a holy 
place, since it has had the happiness to receive him, 
of whom all the sacrifices and all the sacraments of 
the old law were but the figure ? 

Since it has pleased thee, my Saviour, to favor 
me with thy visit, grant me the grace to correspond 
in some sort to this favor ; thou never conferredst an 
extraordinary gift on any one without granting him 
powerful assistance to preserve it ; and if, by thy 
adorable presence, I have received from thee a gift 
which surpasses all others, let thy sovereign power 
sanctify me, that I may be able to sanctify my obli- 
gations. Wheresoever thou hast entered, thou hast 
shown this merciful benevolence. Thou enteredst 
into the chaste womb of thy mother, and as thoa 
thereby exaltedst her to the highest glory, so tboo 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 295 

at the same time gavest her the greatest grace to 
luaiatain it. Being yet enclosed within this sanc- 
tuary, thou enteredst into the house of St. Elizabeth, 
and there by thy presence sanctifiedst her child, 
gavest him heavenly joy, and filledst his mother with 
thy spirit. Thou enterest into the world to converse 
with men, and as by thy coming on earth thou raisedst 
them to a wonderful degree of glory, so by a won- 
derful grace thou repairedst their faults, and sancti- 
fiedst them when they were wicked. And, in fine, 
thou descendedst into hell, and of hell thou mad est 
a paradise, rendering those happy by thy presence 
whom thou honoredst with thy visit. Nor hast thou, 
O Lord, only wrought these wonders when personally 
present : the ark of the testament entered into the 
house of Obededom^ and immediately thou pouredst 
forth all thy benedictions on it, and on whatsoever 
belonged to that good Israelite. Since then it has 
pleased thee, through a greater mercy, to enter into 
60 poor a dwelling as that of my soul ; since it has 
pleased thee to abide in it, begin to bless thy ser- 
vant's house, and grant me grace to answer this 
favor ; enrich and adorn the place of thy habitation, 
and render it fitting for thee : thou wouldst have me 
to be like that happy sepulchre in which thy sacred 
body was laid ; give me, therefore, the qualities that 
were observed to be in it. That sepulchre was of 
stone, give me firmness ; there was in it a shroud, 
grant me the humility represented by it, since it is so 
necessary for me ; myrrh was also found there, which 



296 THE MEMORIAL OP 

is the symbol of mortiJBxjation ; make me die to all 
my irregular desires, and to my own will, that I may 
live only to thee. By establishing thy abode in me, 
thou wouldst have me be as the ark of the testament ; 
grant me, therefore, this favor, that, as the ark con- 
tained nothing but the tables of the law, my heart 
may entertain no thoughts or desires but of conform- 
ing itself entirely to thy law. Thou lettest me know 
by the effects of this great sacrament that thou art 
my Father, since thou treatest me in it as thy child ; 
but being thy child, give me thy grace, that I may 
worthily correspond to this benefit, by loving thee 
not only with a strong and solid love, but also with 
a love full of tenderness. Let all my interior powers 
melt and be absorbed in thy love, and let the sole 
remembrance of thy so sweet and so amiable name 
make all the joy of my heart. Give it the sentiments 
of a true child, that is, the obedience, love, and re- 
spect which are due to thee as its father. Let all 
my hope and confidence be in thee, and let me in all 
the troubles and afflictions of this life have recourse 
to thee, like a good son who casts himself into his 
father's arms, where he finds his most assured refuge. 
But, above all, thou wouldst discover to me in this 
divine mystery, that thou hadst for my soul all the 
love that a bridegroom can have for his bride : give 
me the same heart for thee ; let my affections an- 
swer thine ; let my love be like thine, faithful, chaste, 
and tender ; and let it be so strong and powerful, 
that nothing may ever separate me from thee. It 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 297 

was to form so strict a union as this that thoa ordain- 
est this holy sacrament. Thou knowest that the 
creature is much better in thee than in itself; that 
it has from thee all its strength and power ; that it 
is of itself only misery and weakness ; that without 
thee it is lost, like a drop of water, which being left 
alone in the air, is dried up in a moment ; but being 
thrown into the sea, and united with its beginning, 
abides for ever. Draw me then, my Lord, from 
myself, and receive me unto thee, because with thee 
I find life ; and with myself I find death. I become 
strong if I am with thee ; and if I am left to myself, 
ri abate, and am lost: being with thee, I obtain a 
firm and stable condition ; and of myself I am only 
vanity and corruption. Depart not then from me, 
good Jesus, depart not, Lord, but, " stay with 
us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now 
far spent ;" (Luke xxiv. 29.) and since I have been 
so happy as to lodge thee this day in my house, 
where I may treat with thee alone about the concerns 
of my soul, I will not lose this favorable opportunity, 
" I will not let thee go except thou bless me." Gen. 
xxxii. 26. Change my old name, and give me a 
new one ; that is, a new being, and a new manner of 
life. Let the love of the world grow weaker in me 
every day, and let the love of thee increase, or rather 
grow daily stronger as long as I shall live, to the 
end that all the desires of this world being extinct 
and dead to me, I may live to thee alone. O my 
Saviour, I desire thee alone, I think on thee alone ; 



508 TF/E MEMORIAL OF A CHRISriAX LIFE. 

let me abide with thee alone, let all my thoughts and 
cares respect thee alone ; to thee alone let me have 
recourse in all my troubles, and let me expect and 
receive assistance from none but thee alone, who 
livest and reignest world without end. Amen. 



OF THE THUD 



% glmorial of a Christian Jife. 



BOOK IV. 

CONTAINING 

TWO PKINCIPAL KULES OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 



PREFACE. 



After you shall be converted to God with your 
whole heart, and shall have seriously endeavored to 
purify your soul by these two great sacraments of 
which we have treated, it remains that you speedily 
set yourself to amend your imperfections, and regu- 
late your life. For this purpose, therefore, I design 
to give you the following counsels ; and as nature, in 
the production of her works, goes always from the 
lesser to the greater, that is, from what is of less to 
what is of greater perfection, so grace ordinarily does 
the same. Wherefore I will keep this order in the 
instruction I purpose to give you on this subject, es- 
tablishing two rules and two manners of living well ; 
one for those who are newly converted, and desire to 
be saved ; the other for such as, besides this, aspire 
to a higher perfection, and endeavor daily to go for- 
ward in the way of virtue. 

299 



300 THE MEMORIAL OF 

For the better compreheDding my intent, you shall 
observe, that all the instruction conducing to a good 
life, is, by the prophet David, divided into two prin- 
cipal parts ; the one of avoiding evil, and the other 
of doing good; (Fsalm xxxiii. 14.) that is, the one 
consists in banishing vices from our souls, and the 
other in adorning them with virtues. I see not in 
this matter any division more perfect or clearer than 
this, because that by observing these two things, one 
becomes a new man and a new creature, destroying 
by the first the image of the old man, and forming by 
the second that of the new. Thus you render your- 
self supernatural and divine creatures ; since as man 
was created for a supernatural and divine end, which 
is to see God in his glory ; so the life which disposes 
to this end is divine and supernatural, according to 
that maxim of philosophy, that the end and the means 
ought to be proportioned^ and be of one and the same 
order. And although these two things are, as well 
in practice as in precept^ inseparable, since vices 
cannot be overcome but by the help of virtues, nev- 
ertheless, the better to distinguish what I intend to 
teach you, and give it more light, I will, as much as 
I can, separate the one from the other. It is requi- 
site also to observe, that of the things which are pro- 
posed both in this discourse and others that treat of 
piety, some are of obligation, and others of free choice 
and perfection ; that is, some are of precept, as the 
commandments of God and the Church; and others 
are of counsel^ as all the good advice and exhortations 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 801 

eontained in Holy Scripture, which conduce to the 
better observing of what is commanded, and to the 
arriving at a greater perfection. It is of very great 
importance to give you this instruction at first, that 
you may understand what is absolutely necessary, 
and what depends on choice alone, and, therefore, 
know your duties, for greater care must be taken to 
perform what is of obligation than what is voluntary ; 
and the first must never be left for the second, the 
contrary being a very great error and disorder, yet 
such as does but too frequently happen. Wherefore, 
I shall, in the beginning of this book, very briefly 
declare the things that are of obligation ; and shall 
afterwards add many others, which may help you 
more easily to perform these first and indispensable 
duties, and bring you to obtain a higher perfection ; 
for though it is true that the keeping of the com- 
mandments is sufficient to salvation, yet in the way 
of Grod, to continue in the same state, and say it is 
enough, is to go backward; wherefore, besides the 
essential things, and such as are absolutely necessary, 
I shall adjoin many others that are useful and profit- 
able, for the sake of such aspiring souls as desire daUj 
to grow and increase in virtue. 
26 



302 THE MEMORIAL OY 

OHAPTER I. 

The First Rule of a Christian Life , treating of the 
Victory over Sin, and the Means to destroy it 

If you desire then, with all your heart, to give 
yourself to God and to save your soul, know, before 
all things, that the most important part of this affair, 
in comparison of which all others whatsoever are as 
nothing, consists in one only point ; which is^ to form 
in your soul a firm resolution never to commit any 
mortal sin on any occasion whatever, either for the 
sake of wealth, honor, or life itself or any other thing 
in the world. And as a virtuous woman, or an officer 
in an army, is always fully determined rather to die 
than to be guilty of the least infidelity, the one 
against her husband, and the other against his prince ; 
80 you, as being true Christians, ought to be firmly 
resolved rather to lose all things, even your own lives, 
than to consent to so great a treason as is committed 
against God by a mortal sin. The reason of this is, 
because, as St. Paul says, the end and principal aim 
of the Christian religion is charity, which consists in 
loving God and our neighbor, (1 Tim, i. 5.) to whicli 
nothing is so directly opposite as mortal sin ; inso- 
much that he who commits it not, essentially fulfills 
the law of charity. Our Lord himself taught us this 
by the answer he gave to the young man in the gos- 
pel ; that the faithful keeping of the commandments 
is the way to heaven, and the means to obtain eter- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 303 

nal life; {Matt. xix. 17.) and we know, that not to 
commit any mortal sin is to keep them, since no man 
sins mortally but by transgressing these command- 
ments, and consequently that God's law and man's 
salvation consist essentially in this point, in keeping 
inviolably the commandments of God and those pre- 
scribed to us by the church. 

This is, in a few words, the summary, or rather 
the principal and total of what a good Christian is 
bound to do, the which is sufficient for his salvation ; 
but because it is not so easy as may be imagined 
fully to discharge this obligation, and that, on the 
contrary, we ordinarily meet with very great irapedi* 
ments on the part of the world, which is full of snares 
and dangers ; on the part of the flesh, whose incli- 
nations bring us to evil ; and on the part of the devil, 
who daily makes war upon us ; you ought to be con- 
tinually on your guard against these enemies, and 
endeavor to subdue them by the assistance of the 
virtues which will facilitate your conquest over them. 
Of this we are now going to treat, and shall partic- 
ularly note to you such things as may be serviceable 
to you in attaining them. 

SECTION I. 

The first is, to consider attentively what a strange 
evil mortal sin is, by taking a thorough and particu- 
lar view of its deformity and injustice, since it dares 
to attack a God from whom we have received such 
precious benefits, and to whom we are by so many 



B04 THE MEMORIAL OF 

titles so strictly bound. There is no Christian but 
acknowledo^es that God is the lord and master of all 
things ; that he is their beginning and their end ; 
that from him proceed universally all our goods ; 
that he is an immense ocean of all perfections ; that 
it is he who created all men, who redeemed and 
sanctified them, who continually preserves them, and, 
in fine, prepares for them eternal glory and happi- 
ness. As his benefits are innumerable, so are our 
obligations; and we forego all these benefits and 
duties at one and the same time, when we are so un- 
happy as to commit a mortal sin. This made Wil- 
liam, bishop of Paris, say, that in one only mortal sin 
are found, after a manner, the deformities of all the 
mortal sins in the world ; and he adds, that this detes- 
table sin is a kind of spiritual rebellion, because the 
man who suffers himself to be carried away by it, re- 
volts against his sovereign ; he puts the keys of his 
heart, that is, his own soul, into his enemy's hands 
by way of homage, and makes himself his vassal. 
Mortal sin is also in some sort a sacrilege, since it 
profanes the living temple of our heart, which was 
consecrated to God ; it is a crime of apostacy, since 
it makes us leave God's side, and betake ourselves to 
the devil's, whose works we had renounced by bap- 
tism. It is a spiritual adultery, since it causes a soul 
that had become the spouse of Christ, to abandon 
herself treacherously to all the creatures which she 
particularly loves. It is a theft, since man, belong- 
ing in so many ways to God, steals himself from his 



A CHKISTIAN LIFE. 305 

fervice, and depriv^es him of what so lawfully per- 
tains to him. In fine, since we are obliged to give 
God all the honor, respecl obedience, fidelity, and, 
in general, all the homages that are due to all crea- 
tures, of what condition so^ ver they are, and much 
more than this ; it necessarily follows, that one only 
Bin against him infinitely surpasses all the other 
faults and ofiences that may be committed in the 
world. Wherefore^ with very great reason, does a 
holy doctor cry out against this monster in these 
terms : " evil, not sufficiently understood, which 
takest from x\.lmighty God the respect that is due to 
him, which contemnest his majesty, which injurest 
his greatness, which extinguishest virtue, which de- 
stroyest grace, which withdrawest us from the Sov- 
ereign Good, which makest us lose eternal happiness, 
which darkenest the understanding, which disorderest 
the will, which art the most deadly poison of the 
devil, which engagest thy followers to the pains of 
hell, which art the destroyer of the world, the infal- 
lible guide of perdition, the death of the sinner, the 
malignant seed of Satan, and the gate of bell, and 
which makest men delirious : abominable sin, which 
art the net and snare wherein the unwary sufier 
themselves to be caught ; which art the plague of 
souls, which makest men become imitators of the 
wicked spirits ; horrible darkness, intolerable stench, 
extremest of all filthiness, vileness, lower than which 
nothing can be imagined ; cruel beast, greatest of all 
26* 



306 THE MEMORIAL OF 

miseries, aud in fine, cause and original of all oor 

evils !" 

This is one of the principal considerations that 
may excite in you a true hatred of sin. Reflect 
seriously on it, and make use also, for the same 
effect, of the others I have set before you in the 
second book of penance ; as, to represent to yourself 
what you lose by sin, how much God abhors it, and 
the extreme outrage you commit against him, when 
you fear not to offend him. I mention not the rest, 
to avoid repetitions. 

SECTION II. 

The second means to advance in virtue, is care- 
fully to avoid the occasions which may make you 
fall into sin. I put in this rank, gaming, ill company, 
dangerous conversations, over-much talking, and 
particularly too frequent discourse and familiarity 
with women, how honest and virtuous soever. For 
if man becomes so weak by sin, that of himself, and 
through his own misery, he falls and sins every 
moment^ without any one provoking him to it, what 
can he promise for himself if occasion solicits him, 
and he is stirred up by the presence of the object, 
and the opportunity to sin ? Fly then carefully all 
these sorts of occasions, if you desire to be Grod's 
true servants, and assure yourselves that, commonly 
speaking, we are so far good as we avoid the oc- 
casions of evil. Remember that David was a holy 
man, but the sight of a woman, and the opportunity 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE* 307 

he had to sin, made him fall, which he ceased not to 
bewail all his life. Remember his son Solomon, who 
was the wisest of all men, and so highly favored by 
God, that he was termed our Lord's well-beloved, 
and yet through the same occasion fell into the 
strangest of all abandonments. God had command- 
ed the Jews not to marry with strange women, for 
fear they might corrupt their religion, and make them 
adore their idols. Solomon, thinking himself secure 
from this danger, married many such, and loved them 
so vehemently, that he was by their artifices persuad- 
ed to build temples to their idols, and adore them. 
This is a crime that you will scarce believe, and 
which ought to make us tremble ; yet it is true, and 
by it did this prince, so renowned for wisdom, ruin 
himself, and all his posterity was deprived of his 
kingdom. Who then can esteem himself safe 
amongst occasions, when they overthrew these two 
great men, one of whom was so holy, and the other 
so wise 1 Shuil then the occasions as you would the 
sin itself; and if you find yourself drawn by cus- 
tom^ or by pleasure, to any one that is dangerous, 
return into yourself, and say to your heart. Wretch 
as thou art, if thou canst not now resist a single de- 
sire, which sways thee on this occasion, how wilt 
thou be able to surmount its power, and avoid the 
danger it casts thee into, when it shall be strength- 
ened by the presence of the object thou art going to 
seek I Remember also that it is to tempt God, and 



3U8 THE MEMORIAL OF 

render yourself unwortby his assistance, if yon do 
not, on your part, what you ought to deserve it. 

But amongst these temptations,, the most ordinary 
is, undoubtedly, the company of wicked persons ; the 
world is so full of them that one can scarce go a 
step without meeting them ; keep yourself from them, 
if you desire not to sin. A mad dog and a viper, 
ready to burst with poison, are nothing near so dan- 
gerous as ill company; and it is manifest, as the 
apostle teaches us, that "Evil communication cor- 
rupts good manners/' 1 Cor. xv. 33. Engrave then 
on your heart this saying of the wise man, " He that 
walks with the wise, shall be wise ; a friend of fools, 
shall become like unto them :" (^Prov. xiii. 20. &c.) 
and again, " He that toucheth pitch, shall be defiled 
with it ; and he that hath fellowship with the proud, 
shall put on pride." Eccles. xviii. 1. Let parents 
especially cause their children carefully to keep them- 
selves thus reserved ; and let masters and governors 
take the same care of the youth committed to their 
charge ; otherwise they will see all the benefit of 
their education, and the labors of many years, lost in 
a moment. 

SECTION III. 

Tub third advice is^to repel betimes the first as- 
saults, and shake off immediately the least evil 
thought, before it get possession of your heart ; for 
thus you will resist with greater ease, and more 
n erit : whereas» delaying ever so little, you will find 



A CTIRTSTTAN LIFE. 309 

more difficulty in opposing the mischief, and commit 
a new sin, which will be at least venial, and may 
sometimes prove mortal. Consider that the fire 
which does but just begin to kindle, is easily quench- 
ed, and the plant which was but lately set, is not 
hard to be plucked up again; but if the flame is 
once spread, and the plant once rooted, then the fire 
will not be put out, nor the root pulled up, without 
abundance of labor. A town may, without much 
difficulty, be defended before the enemies are got 
into it ; but when they have once found the means 
to make a breach and take possession of it, it will be 
hard to drive them out again. When a stone is yet 
on the top of a mountain, it may with ease be stayed 
there, but if it once begin to roll, it will be almost 
impossible to resist the violence which carries it. 
These comparisons are common, yet to me they seem 
fit to show, that as evil thoughts are without any 
great labor overcome, when they are resisted at the 
beginning, so it is difficult to master them when they 
have once taken root in our heart. Now the best 
and speediest way to resist them, of what quality 
soever they are, is, as soon as ever they shall attack 
you, to set before the eyes of your soul Jesus Christ 
crucified, with all the anguish and sorrow that en- 
compassed him on the cross, the streams of blood 
which ran down from all his body, and all the wounds 
and stripes that appeared on it ; to reiiect on all the 
torments which he suffered for the destruction of sin, 
and to say to him : Is it possible that thy Majesty 



310 THE MEMORIAL OF 

should have put itself in this condition, to the end 
I might not sin, and that, nevertheless, I should not 
cease to offend thee ? Remove from me, Lord, 
this unhappiness through thy infinite mercy, and for 
the sake of that precious blood which thou hast shed 
for me. Help me, O my God, and forsake me not, 
since thou art my only support, and to none but thee 
can I have recourse. When this shall befall you, 
if you shall be alone, it will be good also to make 
speedily the sign of the cross upon your heart ; for 
this exterior action, accompanied with piety, has often 
force enough to drive away the interior impression 
which disquiets you. 

St. Bernard writes, that a certain religious woman 
of his time was wont frequently to perform this holy 
action, and that her grave being opened some years 
after her death, the finger with which she had so 
often made this venerable sign was found still whole, 
though the rest of her body was consumed. Another 
doctor writes, that there died at Strasburg, a prior 
ef St. Dominick's order, who had the same devotion, 
and that some years after, his grave being also open- 
ed, there was seen engraven on the bones which 
covered the region of the heart, the perfect figure of 
a cross, the foot of which was pointed, the three 
uppermost parts ending in flower-de-luces ; God be- 
ing willing to show, by this exterior mark, that 
purity and chastity were preserved in this holy soul, 
by the remembrance and power of the sign of the 
cross, which this holy man often made on his breast, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 311 

ko drive away the teraptations of the enemy. This 
doctor bears witness of this wonder, as of a thing he 
had seen with his own eyes, affirming that he travel- 
led forty miles only to be a spectator of it. I have 
related these two memorable examples, to let you see 
how much Jesus Christ favors those who are mind- 
ful of his sufferings, and to stir you up to make use 
of this remedy, to the end you may obtain his grace. 

SECTION lY. 

The fourth is, to examine your conscience every 
evening, before you go to bed : consider attentively 
wherein you have sinned that day, in thought, word, 
or deed, and particularly reflect on all the discourses 
in which you may possibly have offended. If you 
have told any lie ; if you wished the devil may have 
power over any of God's creatures ; if you have 
cursed any one ; if you have spoken any immodest, 
slanderous, hasty, choleric words, or any other of that 
nature. As to your thoughts, if you have speedily 
and earnestly rejected such as have come upon you 
against chastity, or any other virtue ; on the con- 
trary, if you have staid ill them, and if you have no# 
immediately shaken out of your bosom these sparklei 
of hell-fire. And as for deeds, look with more exact- 
ness into the obligations of your condition with those 
of your house and family, and observe how you have 
acquitted yourself of them. This exercise has been 
often recommended to us by the holy fathers, amongst 
whom, to give you an instance, I have made choice 



312 THE MEMORIAL OP 

of Eusebius Emissenus, who, in one of his nomilies, 
has these words : " Let every man daily see his con- 
science before his eyes, and speak in this manner to 
himself: Let us see whether I have passed this day 
without sin, without envy, without contention, with- 
out detraction ; let us see whether I have done any 
thing for my own particular good, or the edification 
of others ; let us see whether I have this day told a 
lie, whether I have sworn, whether I have suflPered 
myself to be overcome with anger, or any other 
irregular passion, without having thought of doing 
any good, or delivering myself by good works from 
eternal torments. Who can bring me back again 
this day, which I have unprofitably spent, or in 
which I have employed myself only in vain and 
dangerous thoughts ? After this sort, concludes this 
holy father, you ought to repent, accuse, and con- 
demn yourselves, before Almighty God, in the re- 
treat of your closets and of your hearts." 

But it is not sufficient to make barely this review 
of your consciences ; to the end it may be more ben- 
eficial, you shall add to it some penance, which you 
shall impose on yourself for these sorts of sins. This 
voluntary chastisement will render you more cautious, 
and more fearful to commit what you ought not to 
let pass without punishment, both for these sins of 
the tongue, and other defects you might fall into. 
Moreover, since there is no sin but deserves its pun- 
ishment, the soul which is chastised becomes more 
sarefiil not to fall into sin. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 313 

It will be also advantageous to propose to one's 
self every week the attacking some particular vice, 
and endeavoring to get the victory over it ; the flesh 
is with difficulty brought to enter into this combat, 
but for fear it should fall asleep in so commendable 
an undertaking, it will do well to make it wear some- 
thing which may awaken it, and cause it to remember 
its resolution. An hair girdle, a little chain set with 
points, or some other thing of this nature known to 
penitents, though but little painful, often produces 
wonderful effects. In the meantime, though you 
often fall, yet be not dismayed ; but, on the contrary, 
though you should fall a thousand times a day into 
such like offences, get as often up again ; put not your 
confidence in yourself, but in the superabundance of 
God's mercy; and be not troubled to observe that 
you have not yet wholly conquered any one of your 
passions, because this is a work which requires pa- 
tience, and you will sometimes overcome in a little 
time what you have with difficulty been struggling 
against for many years. This ought to make you judge 
how important this victory is to you ; and Ood also 
sometimes permits some Jebusites, that is, some pas- 
sion or difficult temptation, to abide in the soul, as he 
left the remains of that nation in the midst of his 
people : this he does to exercise your virtue, and keep 
you in humility, which is the foundation of all other 
virtues. Take care also at your arising in the morn- 
ing to face at first that enemy, that is that inclination 
or sin which most ordinarily makes war upon you; 
27 



314 THE MEMORIAL 0¥ / 

arm yourself against it with the assistance of prayer, 
and a strong resolution never to have peace with it, 
and draw up all your forces where you see the great- 
est danger. 

SECTION V. 

The fifth is, to avoid, as much as possible, venial 
sins; because they serve as a disposition to mortal 
ones. Persons who are apprehensive of death, forget 
nothing they think requisite for the preservation of 
their health, and preventing such diseases as may 
bring them to the grave ; so all those that desire to be 
exempt from mortal sins, which are the death of the 
soul, must take care to shun venial ones ; for they are 
real diseases, and, if neglected, become capable to 
bring her to death. For my part, I hold it as a cer- 
tain truth, that a just man, who has long lived well, 
and persevered in grace, will never fall into any 
mortal sin, unless he is negligent in having a due 
regard to himself, and makes little account of venial 
sins, which weaken his soul, and deserve that God 
should withdraw his hand, that is, his assistance, by 
which he will be more liable to temptation, and more 
easily overcome. For as no man immediately as- 
cends to the highest degree of perfection, so likewise 
no man falls on a sudden into the extremity of dis- 
order, both good and evil growing in us by little and 
■little. Wherefore it is observed of Job, that poverty 
attacked him before he was assaulted by the enemy; 
to show us that souls rarely yield to mortal sin till 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 315 

after th&} are become poor, and have lost their vigor 
by the nmltit^ude of their negligences. Our Lord 
himself hath declared in the Gospel, that if you are 
faithful in a little, you will be also faithful in much ; 
and if you use diligence in avoiding small evils, you 
will be secure against great ones. Tn the meantime, 
you shall observe^ that by venial sins we understand 
idle words, immoderate laughter, eating, drinking, 
and sleeping beyond necessity, and other like things : 
though these are light faults, and such as at first do 
us no great hurt, yet do they, howfever, deprive us of 
great benefits, chilling devotion, and slackening that 
fervor of charity, which makes pure souls behave 
themselves cheerful and diligent in whatsoever con- 
cerns God's service. 

SECTION VI. 

The sixth is, to embrace a manner of life somewhat 
austere, not giving to your flesh all it may desire, 
either in eating, drinking, sleeping, clothing, or any- 
thing else that flatters it. It is your greatest enemy ; 
it is a spring of passions and irregular desires, which 
dries not; and the more it is checked and weakened, 
the more feeble and languishing will the passions lv3 
which it produces. A hungry and barren land yields 
only low and dry plants, affording but little juice ; 
and, on the contrary, that which is fat and fruitful 
brings forth strong and vigorous trees, especially if, 
besides its natural fertility, care is taken to water it. 
The same difference is between the passions in bodies, 



316 THE MEMORIAL OF 

which ease and good cheer keep full and lusty, and 
in those that are weakened and brought low by fast- 
ing and other mortifications. Go, then, to the cause 
of your disorders, if you will take away the effects. 
I have already told you, that virtue has no enemy 
more obstinate and dangerous than this our sinful 
flesh ; it is she that, with the violence of her desires, 
opposes all our good designs ; it is she that, through 
the passion she has to be always tenderly treated, 
disturbs all our holy exercises. Prayer, reading, 
silence, fasting, and watching, are to her intolerable 
constraints : look on her then, as the most powerful 
obstacle of your salvation, and set yourself to resist 
her; for if, through a cowardly complaisance, you 
once, accustom her to become your mistress, you must 
no longer speak of the practice of virtue, or exercises 
of piety ; but if, on the contrary^ you courageously 
and continually oppose the first assaults she shall 
make upon you, and omit not, for some time, to fight 
against her vicious inclinations, after you shall have 
gained this advantage, and by exercise contracted a 
constant habit of mastering her, and contemning her 
efforts, all will be easy to you; for virtue has of it- 
self nothing that is difficult, it being only the cor- 
ruption of our flesh which makes her appear harsh. 
The most effectual remedy, and true assault against 
her corruption, is abstinence, which purifies her, 
dries her, and makes her obedient to the spirit. For, 
according to the opinion of a celebrated doctor, " Ab- 
Bt\;jviJ<?e humbles the flesh, exalts the spirit, and taire.M 



A CHBISTIAN LIFE. 317 

the passions ; it satisfies for sins, and, which is both 
more admirable and more profitable, by destroying 
covetousness, cuts off the root of all evils, since those 
that are contented with little have no cause to desire 
superfluities." This virtue of abstinence will not 
only deliver you from all other evils, but also from 
all the vexations of spirit, from all the cares and 
anxieties with which thev are turmoiled, who will 
not have anything wanting to the splendor of their 
expenses and the delights of their bodies; and thus 
you will continue free and at liberty to give your- 
selves wholly to God. It was for this reason those 
ancient fathers of Egypt exercised on themselves 
such severe mortifications: this was also the motive 
to that extreme poverty, of which St. Francis and 
his followers made so particular a profession; for, 
in effect, the austerity of the one, and the poverty 
and barrenness of the other, tend both to the same 
end. 

If then, brethren, you desire to be true followers 
of our Lord, give no intermission to your tears, till 
you are arrived at that point of virtue to treat your 
body as an enemy, as a tyrant, as a treacherous slave ; 
let it^ as the common proverb is, be ill fed and well 
beaten, or, at least, deal with it as you see wise and 
discreet fathers do with their children ; you see they 
bring them up in such a manner that they will not 
indulge them in their humors, nor countenance their 
follies. Nor do thev therefore love them the less, 
but in this do violence to their own nature; observ- 
27* 



818 THE MEMORIAL OP 

iug this conduct only because the condition or good 
of these dear children require it. A true servant of 
Grod ought in this manner to treat his body, till he 
has attained his point; let him never believe he haa 
done any great matter, or made any considerable 
advancement in the way of virtue. how happy 
are those who have, in fine^ gotten to it; who have 
reduced their body to suffer this treatment ; who have 
thus humbled it and brought it down ; who have de- 
prived it of sleep and food ; who have forced it to 
submit to the spirit, and in this manner gloriously 
conquered nature herself! Those that have obtained 
this happiness live no longer according to fiesh and 
blood, but according to the spirit of Jesus Christ; 
they fight no longer under the standard or laws of 
corrupt nature, since they have made themselves her 
masters; and it may in some sort be said of them, 
that they are no longer mere men, since they are be- 
come something more than men. And thence you 
may know the horrible corruption and blindness of 
this world, which, through a spirit opposite to that 
of Jesus Christ, and to the perfection which Chris- 
tianity requires, employs all its cares, and all ita 
forces, only to content the body and make it live in 
delights. 

SECTION VII. 

A SEVENTH remedy is, to watch over your tongue. 
It is, indeed, one of the least parts of your body ; yet 
by it you fall a thousand times a day ; by it, you suf- 



A CIIUISTIAN LIFE. 819 

fei* yourselves every hour to slip into filthy discourses ; 
by it you utter speeches that are full of wrath, pride, 
and vanity ; by it you fear not to assert lies ; and by 
it oaths, curses, detractions, flatteries, and so many 
other evils, issue forth of your mouth : not without 
cause, therefore did the wise man say, that "in the 
multitude of words there shall not want sin ;" (Frov. 
X. 19.) and that " death and life are in the power of 
the tongue." Ihid. xviii. 21. Wherefore I can 
give you no better counsel than to advise you, when- 
ever you shall have occasion to speak to such persons, 
or of such matters, as you shall judge may lead to 
the danger of falling into ill language, lying, boast- 
ing, or vain glory, that you lift up your eyes on high, 
and recommending yourself to God with all your 
heart, say to him, with the prophet, ** Set a watch, 
Lord, before my mouth, and a door round about my 
lips." Psalm, cxl. 3. Remember also, when you 
enter into any discourse, seriously to weigh all your 
words, and to imitate the vigilance and care of a 
traveller, who is obliged to pass a brook on the top 
of certain slippery stones laid across it. But since 
this matter is important, and requires a long discourse, 
we shall treat more largely of it hereafter. 

SECTION VIII. 

The eighth is, that you permit not your heart to 
adhere with too much affection to worldly things; as 
honors, riches, children, parents, friends and the like. 
When this love is irregular, it is the most ordinary 



820 THE MEMORIAL OP 

source of all the sins, all the cares, all the vexations, 
all the temptations, all the extravagances, and all the 
troubles which happen in the world. As one of the 
fowler's principal arts is to take notice what sort of 
food is most pleasing to the birds he desires to catch, 
so it is the principal study of our adversaries to ob- 
serve carefully the things to which our inclinations 
carry us with greater vehemence. These they make 
use of to draw us into their nets, knowing, as a poet 
says, that every one lets himself be drawn away by 
the passion that most pleases him. It is true, men 
are endowed with reason to govern them ; but yet, 
generally speaking, the greatest part of men, if not 
all, follow their passions : it is for this reason they are 
called the feet of the soul, because they carry her 
whither they will. And St. Augustin, in the same 
sense, says, that "love is the poison of the soul, 
making her go whithersoever she draws her." Conf, 
I. 13. c. 9. If the love looks up to heaven, the soul 
suddenly aspires thither; and if the love inclines 
to earthly things, the soul is bowed down to the earth ; 
in fine, what the weights are to a clock, the affections 
are to our soul ; it moves as it is moved by them : and 
as for the keeping a clock in due order, its weights 
must be so exactly proportioned, that they be neither 
lighter nor heavier than the space between the hours 
it is to strike requires. So if you desire that your 
life should be well managed, endeavor to reduce your 
affections to their lawful use and order, esteeming 
things as they truly are, and loving them as much as 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 321 

they are worthy of it. If you can attain to this de- 
gree, you will be at the highest point to which your 
virtues can ascend, since it is manifest, that the most 
part of them are employed only in balancing and 
moderating our desires according to this sort of pro- 
portion. 

To enter more securely into this condition, be at- 
tentive never to let your heart expand itself exces- 
sively towards visible and transitory things ; if you 
find it begin to run after them, bring it back imme- 
diately to its duty, and keep yourselves from loving 
them more than they deserve ; that is, consider them 
as perishable and uncertain goods, of little continuance 
and importance. Withdraw your heart speedily from 
them, and at the same time lift it up to God, who is 
your only and sovereign good. If you in this man- 
ner love temporal things, you will never despair when 
you want them ; if they are taken from you, you will 
suffer it patiently ; and this is the only means to avoid 
abundance of sins, which people daily commit to ob- 
tain, increase, and keep them. Herein does the 
point of this important affair consist, for having 
seriously renounced this love, you will have little 
more to fear from the snares the enemy lays for you ; 
as, on the contrary, if you have not yet made this 
renunciation, know that you have not yet begun to 
render yourselves followers of Jesus Christ. This is 
what he himself very profoundly teaches in St. Luke, 
when, speaking of you under the shadow of a parable 
he says, " Which of you, having a mind to build a 



322 THE MEMORIAL OF 

lower, doth not first sit down and reckon the chargefcf 
that are necessary, whether he have wherewithal to 
finish it? lest, after he hath laid the foundation, and 
is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock 
him, saying, This man began to build, and was not 
able to finish. Or what king going to make war 
against another king, doth not first sit down and 
think whether he be able with ten thousand to meet 
him that cometh against him with twenty thousand; 
or else, whilst the other is yet far ofiP, he sendeth 
ambassadors, and desireth conditions of peace ? So, 
likewise, every one of you that doth not renounce 
all that he possesseth, cannot be my disciple." LuTce 
xiv. 28, &c. This comparison will perhaps ap- 
pear to you a little obscure^ for it seems at first, that 
there is not a great resemblance between the heaping 
up of riches, or levying of armies, and the renounc- 
ing what one has, since the one tends to gather and 
the other to disperse. But if you maturely consider 
it, you will find that there is nothing more suitable. 
And this heavenly Doctor, from whose mouth it issued, 
well knew that poverty and the forsaking of all earth- 
ly things conduce as much towards the getting the 
better in spiritual combats, as a numerous army does 
towards the gaining the victory in battle, and a great 
stock of money to the completing of a building. For 
as a prince has so much more reason to think his 
dominions secure, as he has a more powerful army on 
foot to defend them, so the poorer, and the more in 
want a man is of this world's goods, the lese does the 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE* 323 

devil find whereby to assault him. It was for this 
cause that St. Francis, and so many other saints, 
would live so poor, to the end, that possessing noth- 
ing on earth, the world might have nothing to do 
with them, nor they with the world. But, on the 
contrary, if the devil sees that you abandon your 
heart to temporal things, and pursue them with too 
much vehemence, it is there he lays his nets and his 
snares, and it is of them he makes himself arms to 
destroy you. If you love honors, wealth, pleasures, 
or other things of that nature, he fails not to set be- 
fore you a thousand means for the obtaining what 
you desire, for the keeping and increasing it: some 
of them may be lawful, others unlawful ; and the de- 
vil, making use of the passion which blinds you, causes 
you to find nothing ill, or contrary to Grod's laws, in 
whatsoever may content your desires. Thus you are 
no longer guided by reason or justice, but by the 
fury of your passions : this inconvenience is not 
alone ; see here another more dangerous. There are 
often many persons that aim at the same mark : now 
if in the end you design, or in the means you propose 
for the attaining it, you meet with any one that stays 
you, or gives you the least hindrance, there imme- 
diately springs up wrath, envy, hatred, law-suits, in- 
juries, fighting, and, in fine, all sorts of viole»t mo- 
tions that may put your minds in vexation and die- 
order: the first violently stirs up the concupiscible 
part of your soul, with all the difi^erent affections that 
accompany it, and the second heats the iracible, with 



324 THE MEMORIAL OF 

all the transports and furies which attend it ; and so 
many storms and tempests as arise in your soul, ex- 
pose it to a thousand sorts of dangers and shipwrecks. 
It was this made St. Paul say, " The desire of money 
is the root of all evils." 1 Tim, vi. 10. Nor is it 
only that of money which is so, but also every other 
sort of irregular and excessive desire, there being 
none which produces not abundance of evils. 

This is signified to us by another parable of the 
Gospel, which treats of the marriage of the king's 
son : some excused themselves from coming to it, be- 
cause they were newly married ; others, because they 
had a purchase to make ; and others, on divers pre- 
tences of business or employments ; representing to 
us, by these examples, the disorderly love of earthly 
things, which so carries away our heart, as to make 
it contemn all the delights and all the treasures of 
heaven : and you thereby see how true Jesus Christ's 
word is, that he who renounces not the love of the 
world, cannot be his disciple. Love then all things 
with moderation. " If riches abound with you," says 
the prophet, " set not your heart upon them." Psalm 
Ixi. 11. Put all your hope in God, and expect from 
him, as from a true Father, assistance in all your 
affairs. 

Be contented with what he shall have given you, 
continue peaceably in the state he has placed you in, 
and desire not to be more than he will have you be. 
Those that depart from this rule are deceived, and if 
they leave it to follow their irregular desires, they 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 325 

must know, that they shall very hardly obtain what 
they seek with so much passion ; that if they find it, 
it shall not profit them ; and, to complete their happi- 
ness, they shall fall into many sins, which will make 
them lose both the benefits of this life and those of 
oternity. Wherefore Solomon very wisely said — 
" Lift not up thine eyerf to riches which thou canst 
not obtain ; for they will make themselves wings, a« 
cf an eagle; arid fiy to heaven." 

SECTION IX. 

The ninth is, to apply one's-self to the reading of 
good books, and reject bad ones, the reading of them 
being very pernicious ; for the. word of God is truly 
our light, our medicine, our nourishment, and our 
guide ; it is that which fills our will with good de- 
sires ; it is that which helps us to recollect ourselves 
when our heart is most distracted, and awakens de- 
votion in us when it is most drowsy ; it is by that we 
avoid idleness, which is the mother of all vices ; and, 
in fine, as material nourishment is necessary to pre- 
serve the life of the body, the reading of good books 
or hearing good instructions, is no less so to main- 
tain the life of the soul. St. Jerome says, that the 
true food of the soul is to meditate day and night on 
the life of our Lord ; and the reason he gives for it is, 
that by this exercise the understanding is fed with 
the knowledge of the truth, and the will strengthen- 
ed by the savor it finds in it, and the love it conceives 
for it. These two being the principal wheels of the 
28 



S26 THE MEMORIAL OF 

clock, OB which all, in a manner, depends; if they 
go right, all the rest keep equal time and justness in 
their motions. This is one of the most important 
effects wrought by the reading of pious books ; but, 
besides this there is nothing more useful to show ua 
our defects, to heal our scruples, and to comfort us in 
the temptations that come upon us. It is a treasure 
of wise counsels for our conduct, it discovers to us 
the sublime mysteries, and, in fine, encourages us to 
do well, by the examples of virtue it sets before us, 
and by the abundance of fruits which proceed from 
it. It is for this cause Solomon so much recommends 
it to us in his Proverbs, when he says, "My son, 
keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake 
not the law of thy mother. Bind them in thy heart 
continually, and put them about thy neck. When 
thou walkest, let them go with thee ; when thou sleep- 
est, let them keep thee ; and when thou awakest, talk 
with them : because the commandment is a lamp, and 
the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the 
way of life." Prov, vi, 20, &c. 

But that you may benefit by your reading, you 
must read well ; enter not hastily and without respect 
into this exercise, which ought to be holy ; banish 
from it all curiosity ; read with humility, and with a 
purpose to become better. Reading, used in this 
manner, has much resemblance with meditation : 
meditation, indeed, stays a little longer on things, 
ruminating and digesting them more at leisure ; but, 
in eflfect, good reading does almost the same thing, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 827 

and if you read with the same preparation as you 
ought, you will not draw much less profit from the 
one than from the other ; for the light which the un« 
derstanding receives by itj descends immediately into 
the will and all the other powers of the soul, as the 
motion and virtue of the first heaven is communicated 
to all the celestial orbs. Love then the reading of 
pious books, but prefer prayer before reading ; read 
not many things at a time, for fear of tiring your 
spirit instead of refreshing it. Receive the word of 
God with a holy and spiritual hunger, even though 
it be rudely and grossly pronounced ; and if it afibcl 
you not, humble yourselves^ accuse rather your own 
palate, which is too nice, than the rudeness of him 
who speaks ; and be persuaded that it is through your 
own fault that you are not found worthy to understand 
it, and receive it with pleasure. 

SECTION X. 

The tenth is, never to lose God's presence ; that 
is, to behold him always present before your eyes, as 
the witness of your actions, the judge of your life, 
and your strength in your weakness ; and to desire 
of him often, by fervent aspirations, in consideration 
of these divine qualities, the assistance of his grace, 
to the end you may never take too much liberty in 
anything. In this manner did a holy king walk be- 
fore God, as he teaches us by these words: "Mine 
eyes are always fixed upon our Lord, bec«iuse he will 
deliver my feet out of the snare ;" {Psalm xxv 15.) 



328 THE MEMORIAL OF 

and in another place, "I set my Lord always in my 
sight ; for he is at my right hand, that I be not 
moved." Ihid. xv. 8. It is true, that this contin 
ual attention ought not to regard God only ; it is fit 
that you employ a part of it on yourselves and on the 
conduct of your life. In this manner ought you to 
make good use* of your two eyes ; the one to be often 
turned towards Grod, to give him the reverence you 
owe him, and beg of him his grace ; and the other to 
consider your own actions, to the end you may never 
swerve from your obedience to his law. Remember, 
and be assured, that of all the exercises of devotion, 
this attention and vigilance towards God and your- 
selves, is one of the most certain to keep you to your 
duty, and make you pass this life like Christians. 

I know that this is to require much of you, and 
that it is not easy to be always in this actual atten- 
tion ; but I am obliged to tell you, that you ought 
earnestly to desire it of God, and endeavor with all 
your might to procure it on certain occasions ; as when 
you begin any dangerous affair ; or such wherein you 
may be in hazard of offending ; as when you leave 
retirement and silence to go and discourse about busi- 
ness with persons whom you know to be of a difficult 
temper ; when you go to take your food ; and espe- 
cially when you resort to the choir to sing praises to 
God, or to the altar, to offer up there the holy sacri- 
fice. It is of exceeding great importance to prepare 
yourselves well on these occasions, and to foresee 
with care the dangers you may fall into, if you behave 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 329' 

yourselves negligently in them. Imitate the atten- 
tion of a traveller, who meets with a difficult passage- 
in his way ; he has then his eyes more open than be- 
fore, he observes all his paces and all his steps. Do' 
you the like, and be watchful, attentive, and strength- 
ened with a more powerful and more liYely prayer on: 
these occasions. Experience shows us that yow 
should be more sober at table, and more moderate at 
your meals if, you are beforehand prepared against 
the allurements of intemperance, than if you had not 
used this precaution. It is the same with all the 
other vices, and by following this counsel you will 
avoid abundance of sins. Ecclesiasticus teaches us^ 
this wise lesson when he says, " Before sickness take 
a medicine ;" (^Eccles. xviii. 20.) that is, foresee the- 
danger, and remedy it before it befalls thee. 

SECTION XI. 

The eleventh remedy is, to fly idleness, which is 
the mother of all vices. And this is so true, that of 
four unhappy causes, related by the prophet Ezekiel,. 
through which Sodom fell into the greatest and most 
horrible of all crimes, he alleges this as one of the' 
principal. It was also a maxim with the ancient fath- 
ers of the desert, that a religious man employed, ha* 
but one only temptation to fear; but that he who is 
idle has reason to apprehend very many, because the 
devil endeavors to make them all enter into him< 
through the gate of idleness. There are then two 
things found in this vice, which ought to render il 
28* 



380 THE MEMORIAL OF 

infinitely odious to all good people ; the one, that i 
opens the door to all sorts of evils ; and the other, 
that it shuts it to all manner of goodness. For since 
neither learning, riches, honor, virtue, nor any other 
good thing can be obtained without labor, a man that 
ehuns pains throws away, as I may say, the instru- 
ment with which he may make himself master of all 
these good things. Who will not then abhor a fault 
which draws after it such dangerous consequences? 
What greater unhappiness can befall a town, than 
to have two gates, of which the one is for the bring- 
ing in all good things, and the other serves as a pas- 
sage for all evil things, and to have the first always 
shut, and the second always open? I see nothing 
i;hat more lively represents the state of the damned 
in hell. In the meantime, the soul of a sluggard, 
who is busied about nothing, is in this condition ; it 
remains miserably exposed to all evil, and totally de- 
prived of all good, since good comes only by labor, 
and a slothful man flies nothing so much as labor. 

Wherefore, brethren, in such manner regulate 
your lives, and so well dispose of your time during 
the day, that there may be no moment unemployed. 
Let poor people, and such as are to earn their bread 
by labor, apply themselves to their trades, and the 
work of their bands ; but as for those whom God has 
not caused to be born in that condition, I know 
nothing that can be better and more beneficial to 
them, than to employ in the reading of good books 
the time they shaU have left after they have given 



▲ CHRISTIAN LIFE. 331 

what Wcos necessary to prayer, and the government 
of their household. Cassian, speaking of the ancient 
monks, says, that those fathers held the avoiding of 
idleness to be so important to the persevering in 
virtue and religious observances, that if any amongst 
them was so far separated from all worldly commerce 
that he could not carry his work to be sold, they 
obliged him notwithstanding, to labor ; but at the 
year's end he set his work on fire to rid his cell, and 
began again anew. Lib. x. c. 24. He adds, that this 
labor no way hindered their prayer, because at the 
same time that their hands were exercised in action, 
their hearts discoursed with God by prayer. 

SECTION XII. 

We put in the twelfth place solitude, which is the 
surest guardian of innocence. Nothing so powerful- 
ly preserves it; and it is this which all at once cuts 
off the occasion of all sins^ since it banishes from 
our eyes and our senses all the objects which may 
give them birth. This remedy is so certain, that 
heaven sent no other to the blessed Arsenius, when 
he heard that voice which said to him, " Arsenius, 
fly, keep silence, and be quiet " If you will then 
become true servants of God, endeavor to retire into 
yourselves ; do all that possibly you can to free your- 
selves from all visits, compliments, and worldly con- 
versations. For what can you hear in companies, 
but detractions, lies, or flatteries? Or, if they are 
exempt from these things that are sins, which rarely 



332 THE MEMORIAL OF 

happens, they are not from abundance of others, let^ 
criminal indeed, yet such as will render your souls 
void of devotion, and so fill them with the images 
and remembrance of what you shall have seen and 
heard, which will never fail to present itself before 
you at the time of prayer, and hinder it from being 
so free and pure as it ought to be. But if you are 
looked on as uncourteous, and if worldly men take it 
ill that you pay them not these civilities, trouble not 
yourselves about it, for it is far less inconvenient 
that men should complain of you, than that you 
should displease God. Cast your eyes on the mar- 
tyrs, and so many other saints who have done so 
great, and sufiered so terrible things to obtain heaven. 
You labor for the glory they enjoy, and little pains 
or privations will seem light to you, if you compare 
them with a high recompense. After all, I invite 
you to a labor which is but small, and should you 
keep any other conduct, the greatness of the evils 
you would receive by it is so formidable, that I can- 
not sufficiently express it ; for the corruption of the 
world is at this day so great, and the discourses of 
men so pernicious, that you can scarce frequent them 
without extreme danger. 

SECTION XIII. 

In fine, for the last and most infallible of all 
r'^Muedies, you must absolutely break with the world ; 
for it is impossible to be jointly the friend of God 
and of the world, to please God and the world to- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 33S 

gether; the ways, the intention, the works of the 
one, are wholly opposite to those of the other : " For 
the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and 
a short covering cannot cover both," {Isai. xxviii. 
20.) that is, God and the world. 

A servant of God must then resolve with himself 
to renounce the world, and separate himself from it 
for ever, without troubling himself about what may 
be said to him. Provided you have not actually given 
any cause of scandal, laugh at the world with all its 
vaiu discourses and reproaches; all the noise it can 
make is but wind ; its terrors, and all the occasions 
it can take to make you fear, are but bugbears to 
scare little children, who are afraid of every shadow. 
And to conclude, whoever shall regard the talk of 
the world, and concern himself about it, can never 
be God's true servant. This is what the great apostle 
said: "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the 
servant of Christ." Gal. i. 10. For every one is 
servant to him whom he desires to please, and whoso 
will he obeys. 

SECTION XIV. 

Besides these counsels and general remedies I had 
to give you for strengthening you against the tempta- 
tions and assaults of sin, there are yet three others, 
which are the most eflGLcacious of all ; to wit, the use 
of the sacraments, prayer, and alms. The apostle 
teaches us, that among all the means to prevent our 
falling into sin, there is none so powerful as grace. 



334; THE MEMORIAL OF 

and it is by these three sorts of good works that you 
may more easily obtain grace, though it be in dif- 
ferent manners ; for the sacraments ordinarily give 
grace, prayer begets it, and alms merit it. Othei 
good works may also render you worthy of it, but 
the merit is particularly attributed to alms, because 
this great favor, to be found worthy of mercy in the 
sight of God, is a recompense which answers the 
charity you show to your neighbor. And thus alms 
not only serve to satisfy for past sins, but also to keep 
us from committing new ones, according to that sen- 
tence of Ecclesiasticus, " Alms shall obtain help for 
thee against all evil. Better than the shield of the 
mighty, and better than the spear ; it shall fight for 
thee against thy enemy." Eccles. xxix. 15, 16, 17. 
As for the sacraments, who is ignorant that God 
has instituted them as heavenly medicines against 
sins ? that he left them in his church to serve as a 
remedy against the sluggishness of the faithful ; to 
kindle charity, and stir up devotion in their hearts; 
to relieve their miseries, and be, as it were, treasures 
of grace. I should have much to say on this sub- 
ject, if I would extend my discourse on every one 
of these three things in particular; but because I 
have already treated of the sacraments of penance 
and of the holy eucharist, in the second and third 
book of this Mcniorial, and shall speak of prayer in 
the fifth ; having also said somewhat of alms, when 
I explained to you the three parts of satisfaction, of 
which alms is one ; I shall insist no longer on them, 



A CHRTSTIAN LIFK. 



336 



leavrng you to the perusal of those places to which 
I refer you. But remember, that the most impor- 
tant of all things for the furthering of you in this 
way, and what you ought most incessantly to beg of 
Grod in your prayers, is, that he will rather abandon 
you to all other miseries, and do with you whatso- 
ever in the rigor of his justice he wills, than permit 
you to fall into one mortal sin. To strengthen you 
in this resolution, beg earnestly of him three sorts 
of love, and three sorts of hatred : the love of him- 
self, the love of sufferings, and the love of virtue ; 
the hatred of sin, the hatred of your own will, and 
the hatred of your own flesh ; these two last being 
the most usual causes of sin when they are inordi- 
nately loved. Let this holy hatred continually op- 
pugn and destroy this wicked and inordinate love, 
and let your actions, the contempt and severe treat- 
ing of yourselves, always accompany your prayers; 
for in this consist the knot of so important an affair. 
But we shall handle this matter more at large in the 
end of this book. 

SECTION XV. 

In these seventeen general remedies against sin 
does the greatest part of the Christian philosophy 
consist. It teaches also many particulars against 
every one of the vices taken separately; but the 
brevity I have prescribed to myself in this treatise 
suffers me not to treat of them. But, to conclude, 
and finish a last advice, with which it will be easy 



336 THE MEMORIAL OF 

for you to keep all the rest, have always four things 
before your eyes, and endeavor with great care to 
observe them ; chastise your body, watch over your 
tongue, mortify your desires, and do all you can never 
to lose the presence of Grod. Thus shall you keep 
in order the four principal parts of which your body 
is composed, the flesh, the tongue, the understanding, 
and the will. These being regulated, the rest of 
your interior will remain calm, and then you will not 
easily fall into such offences as may put you out of 
God's favor, which is the principal end I have pro- 
posed myself in this treatise. 



CHAPTER II 



Of the Temptations that most ordinarily hefall tlwse 
who begin to serve God, principally in Monasteries, 

We are advised in Ecclesiasticus to have the me- 
dicine ready before the disease attacks us: and the 
principal design in true philosophy has ever been, to 
discover unto men the dangers to which they are ex- 
posed in the course of this life, and to give them 
directions for avoiding them. According to this rule 
I thought it would not be inconvenient, before I fin- 
ish this matter, to observe to you in a few words 
Rome sorts of temptations, to which they who begin 
to serve God are subject. It is not a small matter 
U\ know that they are but temptations, for to koow 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 337 

them well is in a manner to have conquered them. 
When the skilful fowler lays a snare for the catching 
any prey, he so disposes it that the poor bird may 
rather take it for some pleasing food, than for a snare ; 
so, when the devil will tempt any one, he uses all 
his endeavors to persuade him that it is not a tempta- 
tion, but some reasonable motion ; and, therefore, it 
was that I said to you, it is no small advantage to- 
wards the vanquishing a temptation, to know that it 
is a temptation. In the meantime, brethren, who- 
ever you are, if you pretend to enter into this new 
warfare, prepare for the fight. Suppose at first, that 
fou shall find in it many difficulties, and that the 
temptations of the enemy will not be wanting. The 
wise man gives you warning of it in Ecclesiasticus, 
nor is it without cause that he says, " My son, when 
thou shalt come to serve the Lord, live in fear, and 
prepare thy soul for trial." 

The first of these temptations, and that which first 
perplexes the minds of beginners, is ordinarily against 
the faith. The most part of men are so strangely 
asleep in matters of faith, that they scarce behold 
any of them but like things appearing in a dream ; 
80 that at the moment of their awaking out of this 
deep sleep, when they open their eyes, and discover 
such admirable mysteries, they are like strangers 
new come ashore in an unknown country ; they scarce 
believe what they see, and their little knowledge and 
light make them hesitate on everything that is pro- 
posed to them. They may also be compared to a 



S38 THE MEMORIAL OF 

new apprentice, who, entering into the shop of • 
master, that is full of works, finds it filled with all 
the instruments of his trade ; he looks on them one 
ifter another with amazement ; he asks what use they 
Ere for ; but when he takes them into his hand, and 
learns how they are to be managed, then these doubts 
vanish, and he finds nothing more commodious or 
better invented, than that which troubled him and 
seemed strange to him in the beginning. 

The second temptation is that which is termed 
blasphemy. This represents to the imagination filthy 
and abominable objects when a man endeavors to 
enter into the meditation of heavenly things. This 
most disturbs such persons as have but newly quitted 
a worldly life, for their minds being yet filled with 
the images of what is most ordinarily seen in the 
worlds it is difiicult so soon to get that away, which 
time has deeply rooted in them. Thus representa- 
tions altogether carnal and impure, are mixed with 
the spiritual ones they would behold, and this mix- 
ture gives them an extreme torment. The best way to 
get rid of them is to slight them, since they are in 
effect rather shadows, raised by the enemy to frigh- 
ten, than real dangers. 

The third temptation proceeds from scruples ; and 
this caused only by the ignorance of spiritual things, 
which is usually found in novices. In this obscurity 
they go like those who walk in the night, fearing to 
fall at every step ; and this particularly befalls them, 
because they know not the difierence between a shn- 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 3S9 

pie thought and a consent. Thus they believe they 
consent to every thing that comes into their mind. 

The fourth temptation is. to be easily scandalized 
at seeing in another anything contrary to what they 
have proposed for themselves ; for, beginning to open 
<heir eyes, and to know how happy a thing it is to 
serve God, they wonder any one should take another 
course, and cannot behold this disorder without in- 
dignation. These persons, brethren, do not yet un- 
derstand the greatness of human frailty. They know 
not the depths of God's judgments, and are yet verv 
fer from the sentiments of St. Gregory, who teaches 
us, that true holiness is full of compassion, and that 
which is false or imperfect, easily falls into murmur- 
ing. 

There is a fifth temptation, when men take offence 
at the laws and order established to regulate the state 
of which they make profession, and will set themselves 
up for judges and censurers, to decide whether what 
their rule has ordained, is good or bad. This is a 
very great rashness, into which none ordinarily fall 
but proud and presumptuous spirits, who trust more 
to their wit than to the wisdom of their superiors ; 
and this temptation has an affinity with that of the 
old serpent, who questioned our first parents, saying, 
" Why hath God commanded you, that you should 
not eat of every tree of Paradise?" Gen. iii. 1. 
The wise man, on the contrary, exhorts us to hear the 
parables ; (Prov. i. 6.) that is, the doctrine of the 
ancients, and the high sense they conceal in their ob- 



310 THE MEMORIAL OF 

Bcurity : they are not without mystery, though wt at 
first perceive it not. A child who begins to read, 
believes what is told him without informing himself 
of anything ; but, in fine, he understands things by 
time and exercise. If you desire to profit, sufifer 
yourselves to be guided by the counsel of another, 
and utterly renounce your own opinion. Act rather 
by the way of faith and obedience, than by the way 
of reason, and say with the prophet, " I am become 
as a beast before thee." Psalm Ixxii. 23. If you 
live not in this manner, you will not continue long in 
religion, nor will you ever possess peace in your heart. 

There is another sort of temptation ; which is, to 
be over eager in desiring spiritual comforts, to be ex- 
cessively afflicted when they are wanting, to think 
yourselves something when God grants you these 
favors, and to believe yourselves so much the more 
perfect, the more consolations you receive. Under- 
stand, then, that these comforts and these favors are 
not always the most certain measure of perfection ; 
but that first charity, and then the mortification of 
the passions, and the progress in solid virtues, are 
the marks and fruits of the true love of God. There 
are some also who are so mistaken, as to seek sensual 
comforts when they want spiritual ones, and this is 
A greater inconvenience than the first. 

There is another temptation also befalls these per- 
sons of whom we speak ; if God visits them by his 
grace, and shows them an extraordinary favor, they 
cannot keep it secret ; they publish what they ought 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 841 

to conceal ; they will become preachers and director* 
of others before their time, and make themselves 
masters, being yet but scholars. They fall into this 
fault, thinking to do well, and under an appearance of 
virtue ; but they ought to know, that the fruits of a 
tree are worth nothing if they are not produced in 
their season, and that the duty of a beginner is to 
put his fingejr on his mouth, and keep his soul. 

Another temptation which molests them, and ia 
very common^ is the desire to change place. They 
imagine they shall be more quiet, more retired, more 
devout in certain places, and shall profit more in 
them ; but they perceive not that by changing of 
place, the air is indeed changed, but not the heart ; 
and that, whithersoever we go, we always carry our- 
selves with us; that is, we always carry along with 
us a heart corrupted by sin, which is an undrainable 
source of miseries and troubles, and whose sickness 
is not cured by the change of abode, but by mixing 
the severity of mortification with the odor of piety. 
This indeed truly changes the heart, and as long as 
this odor preserves its sweetness, the soul perceives 
not the stench which proceeds from the infection of 
our flesh. Wherefore the best way of flying from 
ourselves is by approaching to God, and communi- 
cating with him ; for if we abide in him by a fervent 
devotion, and true sentiments of love, we are also out 
of ourselves, and remain separated from ourselves. 

There is yet another temptation, when in a new 
gust, and through the new fervors they feel, thej 
29* 



342 THE MEMORIAL OF 

give themselves with excess, and without discretion, 
to extraordinary watchings, prayers, solitude, and ab- 
stinences; not considering that they thereby spoil 
their sight, weaken their head, destroy their stomach, 
and often render themselves unfit for all spiritual ex- 
ercises during the remainder of their lives. I know 
these things by experience, and the least evil which 
can happen by them, is to fall through these ill-un- 
dertaken austerities into some dangerous sickness. 
For it sometimes so falls out, either through the good 
treatment made to the sick, or for want of continuing 
the good exercises, which must of necessity be in- 
terrupted in this condition, that temptations in such 
sort increase, as to overthrow all virtue, which is no 
longer sustained by grace, nor by the strength of 
devotion : some being once accustomed to conveni- 
ences and ease, imagine they can be no more with- 
out them ; and others, as St. Bonaventure says, come 
thereby passionately to love their own flesh, and to 
live not only in delicacy, but also in licentiousness ; 
they make a color of their infirmities, and pretend 
thereby to have a right of giving a free career to 
their senses and pleasures. 

There are also some, who, through overmuch pre- 
caution, fall into another extremity : they are so fear- 
ful of being sick, that they dare attempt nothing 
which may give them the least trouble. They say, 
it is sufficient for their salvation not to offend God 
mortally, without subjecting themselves to the rigors, 
or other practices of devotion and penarce, which 



A OHRISTIAN LIFE. 343 

Are observed by all those who have embraced the 
fitrait and narrow way. This is a dangerous tempta- 
tion, and of these sluggards does St. Bernard speak, 
when he says, " A beginner, who being as yet sensual, 
pretends to discretion, and being but a novice, thinks 
himself much advanced, and being but newly entered 
into the spiritual life, meddles in giving counsels, 
runs the hazard of continuing no long time in re- 
ligion." 

In fine, the last and most common of all tempta- 
tions is, to leave the good way they have taken, and 
return into the world. The devil uses a thousand 
sorts of artifices to engage those in it afresh who 
have separated themselves from it. Sometimes, to 
flatter their incontinence, he represents to them mar- 
riage as an assured haven, and the sweetest and easi- 
est of all sorts of life, though it is in truth most fre- 
quently nothing but a sea, always agitated with tem- 
pests ; and to confirm them by great examples, he sets 
before them the ancient patriarchs, who were at the 
same time saints and married; sometimes he per- 
suades them they shall meet with a woman entirely 
conformable to their humor and intention, and that 
80 they shall bring up their children in the fear of 
God ; and that increasing their estates by some rich 
alliance, they may therewith relieve the poor, which 
religious persons not being able to do, they thereby 
lose an excellent means of securing to themselvea 
the kingdom of heaven at the day of judgment. 
Sometimes he deceives them under the pretence of » 



S44 THE MEMORIAL OF 

higher perfection ; he suggests to them the desire of 
a stricter order, as is that of the Carthusians ; and 
they see not that he only lays this bait to get them 
out of the enclosure of their monastery, and to ex- 
ercise on them his power with more liberty after they 
shall have broken through this restraint, and return- 
ed into the world. Sometimes he excites in theii 
hearts a vehement love of solitude, making them de- 
sirous to imitate the retired lives of the ancient her- 
mits ; but this irregular desire which he insinuates 
to them, is only to destroy them by this desert and 
solitary way, after they are separated from the com- 
pany of their spiritual fathers, and deprived of the 
assistance and light of their counsels. 

For amongst all these sorts of temptations the 
most dangerous are those which allure us under the 
image of piety. Things that are openly evil carry a 
deformity with them which makes them known, and 
gives a horror of them at the very first; those on 
the contrary, which have some appearance of good, 
or some false character of virtue, are much more to 
be feared. Wherefore the devil more frequently 
makes use of them against God's servants; and know- 
ing that they are resolved to do good and eschew 
evdl, he employs all his malice and all his power to 
make them swallow this poison, that is, sin, mixed 
with the sweetness of a false zeal, or an indiscieet 
devotion. The enemies of Daniel having in vain at- 
tempted all sorts of means to bring him into dis- 
fiivor with the king of Persia, for committing some 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 346 

fault against the laws of his empire, and not being 
able to render him guilty on that side, toot occasion 
from the observation of God's law to ruin him ; which 
succeeded not with them, because God protected his 
servant. Dan. vi. The devil ordinarily tempts well- 
inclined persons in the same manner, and this way 
does he lay his snares for them ; and for this reason 
ought they to walk with very great discretion and 
circumspection, even in the love of things which ap- 
pear good and virtuous ; for though it is not a sin to 
have an affection for good things, there will perhaps 
be one in the over-vehement manner of our desiring 
them. All heat that is violent ought to be suspect- 
^ by you; and excess is always dangerous in all 
things. 

These are the most ordinary temptations of. such 
as begin to serve God. I set down some which can 
befall none but religious persons ; others are common 
to tiiem with those that live in the world ; but they 
have all remedies fit both for the one and for the 
other. The principal are humility, submission, pray- 
er, confession, and particularly the choice of a con- 
fessor, who has prudence joined with piety ; for to 
him, as to a good pilot, does it belong to guide this 
vessel with judgment amidst the raging sea of this 
world, where the devils every moment raise such 
horrible tempests. But the most certain remedy of 
all, dear brethren, is to put your confidence in God, 
and invoke his assistance. It is he who knows our 
weakness, and supports us by his grace ; it is he who, 



S46 THE MEMORIAL OF 

at our coming forth of Egypt, draws us off from the 
land of the Philistines, that we may escape their as- 
saults, and not be forced to undergo a cruel war, 
together with tb^ fatigues of a long journey; and it 
is he, in fine, who, as the apostle speaks, " will not 
suffer you to be tempted above that which you are 
able;" (1 Gov. x. 13.) but will increase his graces, 
when he shall see us in the greatest dangers. And 
10 conclude this point, the true remedies against 
temptations are the same that we have before declared 
to you against sin, for there can be no better arms 
against what inclines to sin, than those which must 
be employed against sin itself And this shall suf- 
fice for the first rule or instruction to those who begin 
to serve God. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Second Rule of a Christian Life, which is the 
Imitation of Jesus Christ, for Persons more advan^ 
^ed in Virtue. 

Since there are some persons who, not content 
with doing all they believe necessary for their salva- 
tion, desire to pass further, and perfect themselves 
in piety by the practice of the sublimest virtues, it 
is fit they should be assisted : the doctrine I am now 
going to teach them will be of use towards the ao- 
eomplishing them in so noble a design. 

And because all things have an end, to which liey 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 847 

ought to be directed ; having in the former rule set 
down one end, which was the hatred and avoiding of 
mortal sin, we shall in this propose a more excellent 
one, which shall be the imitation of Jesus Christ, to 
which every Christian ought to direct his whole life. 
I shall be obliged to repeat to you here some things 
I have touched on in the foregoing chapters ; but fear 
not, therefore, you will lose your time in perusing 
them, for I declared them to you at first, as means 
serving to avoid sin, which was then my principal 
aim ; but here I shall represent them to you for other 
ends ; wherefore I will treat of them in a particular 
manner. 

SECTION I. 

I SHALL then set before you, as the first of the pre- 
cepts I am to give you, and as the end of the doctrine 
I desire to engrave in your hearts these words of our 
Saviour ; " I have given you an example, that as I 
have done to you, so you do also." John xiii. 15. 
For as a good writing-master, desiring to render his 
scholars accomplished in his art, sets before them 
copies of the fairest and finest cut letter that can be 
found, to the end they may frame their hand to some- 
thing like it ; so T, who mean to give you the form 
of a holy and Christian life, have thought it necessary 
to go at first to the original, and represent to you 
Jesus Christ himself, since he was the Master of Vir- 
tues; and that all the things he said and did, during 
his life on Earth, were examples as well as remedies 



o48 THE MEMORIAL Of 

for US. Every one knows, that effects are so muck 
the more perfect, as they approach nearer to the per- 
fection of their causes, and do more resemble them. 
As the perfection of a scholar consists in imitating 
his master, so all the perfection of the creature is to 
imitate its Creator, and render itself as like to him as 
it possibly can. Though this cannot be attained, it 
must be aspired after; and it is not without cause 
that our Lord, in so many places of holy scripture, 
invites us to so excellent an imitation : "Be holy," 
Bays he, in one place, " because I am holy ;" (^Levit, 
xi. 44.) and in another, " Be you merciful,, as your 
Father is merciful;" (^Luke vi. 36.) and elsewhere, 
** Be ye therefore perfect, as your heavenly Father is 
perfect." Matt. v. 48. 

Since, then, all the perfection of a creature consists 
in imitating its Creator ; since to imitate a thing, it 
must first be seen ; and since none can see God, du- 
ring this life, in his nature and glory ; the Son of God 
was so exceedingly gracious, that he vouchsafed to 
clothe himself with our flesh, to the end, that being 
made like other men, w-e might see Him whom we 
ought to imitate. He took the form of a servant, 
that we might see in what manner he conversed with 
men on earth, what were his words, to what works he 
applied himself, how he behaved himself in the good 
or evil success of such things as befell him, in solitude 
or in company, with his friends and with his enemies, 
with the great and with the small; and, in fine, that 
we might see the excellency of his virtues, his chari- 



A CHBI8TIAN LIFE. 349 

iy, his humility, his patience, his obedience, his meek- 
ness, his fastings, his prayers, his tears, his watchings, 
his preachings, his labors, his zeal for the salvation 
of souls, his love for his neighbor, his rigor and se- 
verity towards himself, his tenderness and condescen- 
sion to others : this was one of the principal causes 
which made him come into the world; God was 
pleased to make himself man, that man might become 
like God; that he might learn to live as God, not 
only for having heard of God, but for having seen 
• him ; not only through the force of God's word, but 
through the efficacy of his examples. And this is 
what a great prophet had several ages before declared, 
when he said, Thy eyes shall see thy teacher, and 
thy ears shall hear the voice of one admonishing thee 
behind thy back, saying. This is the way, walk ye 
in it, and go not aside neither to the right hand nor 
to the left." Isa, xxx. 20, 21. For by the manifesta- 
tion of this great mystery, our ears have not only heard 
the doctrine of God, but our eyes have also seen his 
person ; that ig, they have seen the Word in flesh, God 
in man, to the end man might learn of him how he 
ought to.be the imitator of God, and that man might 
not despair of being able to imitate God, since he saw 
that God had made himself man. Thus the greater 
conformity you shall havo with Jesus Christ in all 
these virtues, the more perfect you will be. This is 
what the spirit of God, who resides in the just, ena- 
bles us to eifect. And, to use the words of a great doc- 
tor, ** there is no painter who takes so much can) to 
30 



S50 THE MEMORIAL OF 

make a picture perfectly resemble the original, as Al 
mighty God does to render all his elect like to Jesua 
Christ crucified ; knowing it to be the greatest perfec- 
tion and the highest glory that can in this life be ac- 
quired." 

But you will, perhaps, say to me : How can I imi- 
tate the Son of God ? I am man, and he is God ; I 
am an abyss of misery, and he is an abyss of virtue ; 
how can I raise myself^ to the imitation of so wonder- 
ful a purity? Your doubt is reasonable; and, in- 
deed, a mortal and frail man cannot, of himself, attain 
to so high a resemblance ; but he may approach it by 
the power of God's spirit, when he is pleased to dwell 
in him. It is for the producing so admirable an ef- 
fect, that this spirit was given to men ; it is by th« 
virtue of this divine spirit that they may lead a divine 
life ; doing the works not of men, but of God, since 
they have the spirit of God. It would not be impos- 
sible for a man to speak like Cicero, if he had the 
same spirit with Cicero ; nor for another to dispute 
like Aristotle, if he had the spirit of Aristotle. Thus 
it is not impossible for a man to imitate the virtues 
of God, when he has received the spirit of God. It 
is no very new change to see things participate in th« 
nature of those with which they are joined. Insipid 
food, seasoned with salt, will become savory ; preserv- 
ed with sugar, sweet; and dressed with perfume* 
and spices, odoriferous : it is in like manner less ex- 
traordinary for man to become divine, if he partakes 
«f the divine spirit. Our Lord explained both the 



A OHBIBTIAN LIFB. .851 

one and the other in few words, when he said : '' That 
which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which 
is born of the spirit is spirit." John iii. 6. By which 
he plainly declared to us, that it was not possible the 
flesh should, of itself, be anything but flesh; but 
that it was not also impossible it should become spirit, 
if it were assisted by the virtue and presence of the 
divine spirit. 

It is from the influence of this spirit, as from a 
heavenly seed, that the children of God are born ; 
and it is not, therefore, to be wondered, if, as child- 
ren, they resemble their Father, and lead a divine 
life, since they have received the divine spirit, as one 
of the dearest among these children teaches us in 
the following words : " We, having the veil taken oflP 
from our face, and receiving in our souls, as in a 
glass, the brightness of God, are transformed into 
the same image of God, through the operation of his 
spirit." 2 Cor. iii. 18. Nor are we to be much sur- 
prised, if they are in their degree styled gods, as 
David named them, when he said, " I have said that 
you are gods, and all of you the sons of the Most 
High ; {Psalm Ixxxi. 6.) .since it is not so much to 
be made partakers of God's name, as it is to be psur- 
takers of his spirit and likeness. 

And, indeed, ought any one to be astonished at 
man's being raised to this dignity, since it is a grace 
bestowed on us by the Son of God, who came down 
from heaven to give it to us ? He vouchsafed 30 far 
to humble himself as to become man, to the end that 



862 THE MEMORIAL OF 

man, who was totally corrupted, might become di- 
vine, not by nature, but by grace. Thus he would, 
in one respect, be the exemplary cause of all our p^- 
fection, since he represented to us, in his own most 
holy life, the image of a perfect life ; and in another, 
he would be the meritorious cause of it, since it was 
he who, by the mystery of his incarnation, and the sac- 
rifice of the cross, obtained for us so sublime a state. 
Receive, then, and preserve faithfully in your 
hearts, this first precept for the conduct of your life, 
and regard it as the end it ought to have. To this 
does the apostle, St. Peter, invite you, when he says, 
" Christ also suifered for us, leaving you an example 
that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, 
neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when 
he was reviled, did not revile ; when he suffered, he 
threatened not." 1 Pet. ii. 21, &c. St. John re- 
quires of you the same thing in these words : He 
that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to 
walk even as he hath walked." 1 Jolin ii. 6. And 
St. Prosper, explaining this passage, adds : " What is 
it to live as Jesus Christ lived ? It is to contemn all 
that is pleasing in the world, a« Jesus Christ con- 
temneth it : it is to bear the harshest and most rigor- 
ous usage, which he voluntarily suffered ; it is to 
teach what he taught ; it is to expect what he pro- 
mised ; it is to do good even to the most ungrateful ; 
it is not to render evil for evil to those that speak 
reproachfully of us ; it is to pray for our enemies ; 
it is to have compassion on the wicked ; it is to gain 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 353 

the good will of those that are against us ; it is to 
suffer the* proud with patience ; and, in fine, as the 
apostle says, it is to die to the flesh, and to live to 
God alone." 

The imitation of Jesus Christ comprehends all 
these things, and many others with them ; bu. be- 
cause this precept is general, it is requisite I now 
treat of virtues in particular, and explain to you the 
use and practice of them, according to promise. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Of the Exercise and use of Virtues. 

The first of all the virtues, and which is like the 
tp 36 of life planted in the midst of Paradise, is chari- 
ty, which makes us love God above all things, with 
all our heart, and with all our strength. Matt. xxiL 
38. This is the first and the greatest of all the com- 
mandments. Charity is the queen of all virtues, the 
beginning and end of the whole Christian life; it 
is the life and soul of all our actions, without which 
neither faith, hope, the gift of prophecy, martyrdom 
itself, nor all the other virtues, do any thing avail 
us. 1 Cor. xiii. For the obtaining this divine vir- 
tue you principally stand in need of three things : 
the first is, to keep your souls free from passions, and 
from all the sins they are wont to produce ; for the 
divine wisdom, as the holy scripture says, will not en- 
ter into an evil conscience, nor will she make her 
30* 



*i54 THE MEMORIAL OP 

abode in a heart subject to sin. Wisd. i. 8. Where- 
fore, all those who design to love Almighty God, 
continually endeavor to abstain not only from mortal 
sins, but from venial ones also, as much as possibly 
they can. For as a looking-glass receives the rays 
of the sun with so much the more brightness as it is 
itself more bright and clean, so a soul does so much 
the more participate in the splendors of divine love 
as itself is more pure and free from the stains of sin. 
The second is, to shun vain conversations, to re- 
collect yourselves as often as you can within your- 
selves, and seriously to revolve in your minds all 
such things as may stir up your hearts to love Al- 
mighty God ; for by this exercise you will know that 
aU the causes of love we meet with in all creatures 
are to be found in God alone, and all of them in the 
highest perfection. The philosophers say, that good 
iti naturally amiable, and that every one loves his 
own good. Now, according to these maxims, these 
two things do (besides many others) principally 
oblige you sovereignly to love Almighty God ; the 
excellency of his perfections, and the greatness of 
his benefits. We shall in another place treat more 
largely of these two obligations. Add to these two 
motives, the excessive love he has for you, and that 
which you owe to him ; since he is your father, your 
brother, your king, your master, your God, and your 
last end. He is for this reason called the Bride- 
groom of your souls, and he for this cause deserves 
to be loved with an infinite love, forasmuch as the 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 355 

love of the last end is of that nature. The farther 
you shall enter into the consideration of these things, 
and the more time you shall employ in them, th€ 
more amiable will this divine object appear to you. 
!• cannot therefore, brethren, sufficiently conjure you 
to meditate on it, if you desire to make any great 
progress in this love. 

The third, and most expeditious means, is, to beg 
it earnestly of Almighty God. If you find that your 
soul, touched with the sweetness of our Lord, sighs 
after this extreme beauty, instantly beseech his 
Majesty, that he will grant you this precious treas- 
ure, which he alone is able to give you. This way 
is often found the easiest and the shortest, and a fer- 
vent prayer frequently gains that in a moment, which 
a long course of considerations cannot obtain. It is 
good to meditate ; it is better to pray. Ask, there- 
fore, continually this precious jewel ; beg it earnest- 
ly, and let the voice of your hearfe cry louder than 
that of your tongue. Choose in the scripture, or in 
the writings of the fathers, some words full of ten- 
derness, to express the fervor of your desires. But 
we shall speak of this virtue, and all that concerns 
it, in the treatise of the love of God. Moreover, as- 
Bure yourselves that not one of these words, nor one 
of your groans shall be unprofitable. Our Lord is 
gracious, and his liberality has no limits. In con- 
sideration of your prayer, if it be humble and sincere, 
he will grant you either some increase of devotion, 
W some new light, or some new flame of love; he 



356 THE MEMORIAL OF 

will augment his grace in you, he will draTi youf 
heart more effectually to him ; he will comfort you 
with greater sweetness, or will strengthen you more 
in the good cause you have begun. Take heed then 
not to lose by your negligence so much good, which, 
you may every moment acquire. 

Above all^ if you desire to make any progress in 
charity, keep your heart just. In all the works you 
shall do, purify first your intention; never seek in 
them your interest, your honor, or your content ; but 
only the good pleasure and will of God. Be careful 
in all that you undertake, whether of yourself or by 
the orders of another, never to do any thing, either 
because decency requires it, or to satisfy the ceremo- 
nies of the world^ or because necessity obliges you, 
or force constrains you to it, or to please the eyes of 
men, or for any other human interest ; but purely to 
please God, and content him; as a virtuous wife 
serves her husband, not for the advantages she may 
expect from him, but through the sole affection she 
bears him. Your soul ought to be so chaste and 
faithful to this point, that, as this wife adorns and 
dresses herself only to satisfy her husband, and not 
to please the eyes of others, so you should desire the 
ornaments of virtues only to render yourselves ac- 
ceptable in the sight of Almighty God. I speak not 
this, as if it were blameable to do good works for the 
obtaining eternal life, and to look on it as a recom- 
pense ; such an intention being, on the contrary, holy 
and commendable ; but I only give you to under- • 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 857 

Stand, tiiat your actions will always haye so much tte 
more perfection and merit, as you shall more separate 
them from all manner of interest, and more purely 
design them for the love of God. For, as St. Ber- 
nard admirably says, " Perfect love is neither made 
stronger by hope, nor becomes weaker when it ex- 
pects nothing ; for it acts not on considerations of the 
benefit it may receive, nor would it ever cease to act, 
though it should lose all hope of acknowledgment. 
It is love alone, and not interest, which moves it to 
.abor." 

But it is not enough, brethren, to have this holy 
intention in the beginning and end of your actions; 
you ought actually to preserve it in the very moment 
you are doing them. You ought in such manner to 
do them, as to ofi*er them at the same time you do 
them, and in the very same instant to love God ef- 
fectively, and by a formed act : when you work, show 
that you are more in prayer and love of God, than 
in the work. Thus shall you never be distracted in 
what you do, and you shall imitate the practice of the 
saints, who amidst apparent labors and distractions 
were never separated from God. The garments of 
the spouse, according to the words of the Canticle, 
smelt of incense. Cant. iv. 11. This is a figure in 
which the Holy Ghost would, by garments, signify 
the virtues souU are clothed with ; and by incense, 
(which being cast into the fire, sends up an agreeable 
perfume even into the highest region of the air,) the 
force of prayer, which being made on earth, ceases 



858 THE MEMORIAL Olf 

not to penetrate even the heavens. When a mother, 
through excess of goodness, washes the feet of her 
son, or a wife those of her husband, who is returned 
from a journey, both the one and the other love them 
and serve them at the same time, and the heart both 
of the one and the other is filled with joy in doing 
service to persons whom they so dearly love. This 
is the disposition your hearts ought to be in when 
you do anything for the service of your Creator; 
and thus your garments will send forth before his fac€r 
an odor of sweetness. 

What you shall thus do will be of great merit ; 
for the value of our actions depends principally on 
the purity of the intention with which we do them. 
In money the bulk is not so much esteemed as the 
metal ; a little gold is worth more than abundance of 
copper ; so in good works, the number is not so con- 
siderable as the devotion and love which accompany 
them ; as appears by the poor widow's mite, which 
our Lord more esteemed than the great offerings of 
several rich men. LiiJce xxi. 3, 4. It sometimes 
happens, that a good action is done with so good a 
will, and with so much charity and devotion, that it 
is greater in the sight of God than many others which 
are done in the same manner. As one only prayer 
made with simplicity and fervor is more acceptable 
to Almighty God than many others that are weak 
and cold ; so one only action, done with zeal and de- 
votion, obtains more than many others which '^anl 
that fire. This is what they ought to observe, who 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 859 

live in a state which obliges them to be always em- 
ployed in good works : take heed, whoever you are, 
in what manner you do them ; let not their number 
puff you up, but look whether you do them as you 
ought, that is, with great devotion and charity. 

Since this divine virtue has two branches, the love 
of God and the love of our neighbor, endeavor as 
well to satisfy this second obligation as the first, and 
never cease to love your brethren for the love of God 
Charity not only requires us to love God, but will 
also have us love what belongs to him. Now amongst 
the things that are his, nothing is more so than reason- 
able creatures, which he has made after his own image, 
and redeemed with his own blood ; and therefore it 
comes, that from the same root and the same habit 
whence the love of God proceeds, springs also that 
noble instinct^ which makes us love our neighbor 
for God's sake : this is the end for which we ought to 
love our neighbor, and this is also the great motive 
by which we are obliged to love him, how unworthy 
soever he may be of our love. We ought not to love 
him for himself, but for the sake of God, who is 
Sovereign Lord of all men and of all things, who 
has created us, redeemed us, and commanded us to 
love one another for his sake; for though we may 
possibly sometimes not find in our neighbor any cause 
to love him, yet there are innumerable in God, by 
which he deserves that we should for his sake not 
only love pur neighbor, but even all the pains and 
torments in the world ; so that if we see not any sub- 



S60 THE MEMORIAL OF 

ject of love in the creature, we shall find in God an 
infinite number of reasons, both -to love him, and to 
do much more for him. 

As to the effects, this love requires, that we do in- 
jury to no man, that we speak ill of no man, that we 
judge rashly of no man, that we keep an extraordi- 
nary secrecy in what concerns our neighbor, and that 
we rather condemn our mouth to an eternal silence, 
than sufifer it to utter the least word which may any 
way prejudice his reputation. Nor is it enough that 
we do ill to none, but we must, moreover, do good to 
all, assist every one, give good counsel to all such as 
stand in need of it, pardon those who have ofiended 
us, beg pardon of all those whom we have offended, 
and above all, patiently suffer the humors, defects, 
and even the injuries we receive of our brethren, ac- 
cording to the precept of the apostle, ^* Bear ye one 
another's burdens, and so you shall fulfil the law of 
Christ." Gal. vi. 2. This is what charity requires, 
in which consists the law and the prophets ; for to 
go about the founding of a religion without it, is to 
think of framing a lively and active body without a 
soul, which is absolutely impossible. 

SECTION I. 

Though hope was no more in Jesus Christ than 
faith, because Jesus Christ possessed what was infi- 
nitely greater ; it is nevertheless a virtue you ought 
highly to cherish, as being the sister of charity. It 
is this which makes you regard God as your Father 



A CHRISTIAN LIFR, 361 

and gives you for him the heart of a child ; for in 
effect, as there is no good on earth which, being com- 
pared to Grod, deserves the name of good ; so there 
is no father in this world, who has for his children 
such tenderness and charity, as this heavenly Father 
shows to those whom he has condescended to choose 
for his. Assure yourselves that all things, whether 
good or bad, prosperous or adverse, which befall you 
in this world, are for your good, since the least bird 
falls not into the net but by God's providence ; dis- 
cover to him your troubles ; and grounding all your 
assurance on his liberality, which is immense ; on 
his promises, which are faithful ; on the benefits you 
have received of him, which are so many pledges of 
his bounty; and particularly on the merits of his 
Son, which he has made ours ; hope firmly that he 
will have compassion on you, though you are sinners 
and miserable ; that he will powerfully assist you by 
ways which are unknown to you, and at the hour 
you least think of, and that he will turn all things 
to good for you. And to render yourselves worthy 
of his favors, have always in your mind, and often it 
your mouth, these words of David : " I am a beggai 
and poor; the Lord is careful for me." Psalm 
xxxix. 18. 

The whole scripture, the psalms, the prophets, and 
the gospels, speak of nothing so often as of this di- 
vine Providence, and how we ought to put all oui 
hope in it. Exercise yourselves in this virtue, and 
you will see that your heart will find itself thereby 
31 



862 THE MEMORIAL OF 

insensibly strengthened, not only to suffer, bti< al8(» 
to expect your salvation from the afflictions and trou- 
bles it shall please God to send you. Be assured, that 
till you have obtained this confidence you shall never 
enjoy true peace and quiet of mind. Without it all 
things will afflict you, and cast you into vexation and 
trouble ; but with it nothing ought to disquiet you, 
since you have Grod on your side, and his promises 
put you in assurance. 

SECTION 11. 

Humility, as well inward as outward, ought also 
to be placed in the rank of principal virtues, since it 
is the root and foundation of all the rest. This vir» 
tue was so dear to the Son of God, and was so con* 
spicuous both in his person and whole life, that, de- 
signing to give us a perfect model for ours, he com- 
prehends all in these words ; " Learn of me, for I 
am meek and humble of heart;" (^Matt. xi. 22.) which 
made Cardinal Cajetan say, that the principal part of 
the Christian philosophy consists in these two dispo- 
sitions; for humility disposes our souls to receive 
the gifts of God, and meekness teaches us to con- 
verse charitably with men. 

True humility causes a man to regard himself as 
one of the vilest and most abject creatures in the 
world, unworthy of the bread he eats, of the earth 
he tramples under his feet, and of the air he breathes : 
it makes him esteem himself no otherwise than an 
abominable carcass, full of worms, the stench where- 



A CHRISTIAN lIFlf. 863 

of, as he himself cannot endure it, renders him in- 
tolerable to every one else. In this manner speaks 
blessed Vincent Ferrier : " My dear brethren " says 
this saint, " we ought, both you and I, to have this 
opinion of ourselves, and I more than any one ought 
to have it, for my life is nothing but stench and filth, 
my works are abominable, and altogether polluted 
with the corruption of my sins : and what is more 
deplorable I daily feel that this corruption and this 
stench is renewed in me.'' Tract de Vita SpirituaUi 
This condition, which strikes a horror in the eyes of 
men, ought to cover you with an extreme confusion, 
since it appears more clearly to the eyes of God, whose 
sight is far more penetrating. Imagine that you are 
already brought to this last and terrible judgment, 
have a sincere sorrow for your sins, be sensibly af- 
flicted for having lost the grace which you received 
when you were washed with the water of baptism. 
As you perceive that you are wholly putrefied and 
fetid in the sight of Grod, be also persuaded that yoU 
are no less so before angels and men; and thus con- 
tinue in their presence full of confusion and contempt 
of yourselves. Think seriously on what this most 
excellent Majesty deserves ; consider how highly you 
are indebted to him for so many favors as you have 
received from him; how ill you have answered both 
the one and the other ; how, instead of the obedience 
you owe him, you have paid him only disobedience; 
and you will see that you have deserved all creatures 
'loald rise up against you, and unite all their forces 



864 THE MEMORIAL OF 

to destroy you, to the end they may revenge on yon 
the injuries you have so insolently done to their Lord. 
For this reason, desire to be despised and to be scoff- 
ed by every one, the very dregs of mankind ; receive 
patiently and with joy all the shame, infamy and in- 
juries that may befall you; let them give you as 
much pleasure as a person animated with wrath re- 
ceives when he is revenged on his enemy ; since you 
ought to look on yourselves as such, and it is but 
just you should revenge on yourselves the offence you 
have committed against God. 

Another condition of true humility is, that it ought 
to fill you with a greater distrust of yourselves, of 
your own wit, and of your own strength; that it 
ought to turn you wholly towards Jesus Christ, whom 
you must consider as poor, dishonored, contemned, 
and dead for you, by the torment of the cross ; till it 
has, in fine, brought you to this point, that you do 
for his sake become, as it were, dead to all the pains 
and affronts which may fall on you. Nor is it suf- 
ficient to be in these sentiments, as to the preparation 
of the heart ; the outward man, if it is well prepared, 
must be correspondent to the inward, and as you al- 
ready, by thought and mind, put yourselves in the 
lowest place of the world, so you ought, in imitation 
of Jesus Christ, reduce yourselves to wash the feet 
of all men: your deportment, your apparel, your 
words, your table, the service of your house, and 
every thing else (keeping nevertheless, the laws of 
discretion) must be conformable to the humility jou 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 3OTv 

kave in your interior ; for it would not only be a new 
aionster, to see a man divided and different from 
himself, but it would be also directly opposite to our 
Lord's command, who says, " Thou shalt not take a^ 
form contrary to thine own form." Eccles, xiv. 28^ 
So that such dissimulation wounds your soul. 

SECTION III. 

Chastity, which, as our Saviour affirms, is properly 
th« virtue of angels, has nothing to fear when it is^ 
accompanied with humility. I say that it has noth- 
ing to fear with this faithful companion ; because, one 
of these virtues failing, the other runs the danger of 
being lost: St. Anselm, therefore, spoke divinely 
when he said, that " If pride is not strong enough to* 
ruin humility, impurity brings in aid to destroy it ; 
and if the filthy desires of the flesh are too weak tO' 
vanquish chastity, pride lends a hand to overthrow 
it ; so that these two virtues have these two vices to* 
conquer, whereas other virtues ha-ve but one. Tem- 
perance, for example, is opposed to gluttony, and. 
diligence is an enemy to sloth ; but humility and. 
chastity have always both pride and impurity to* 
struggle with together ; for though pride is a worm,, 
which by little and little undermines and corrodes all. 
virtue, it nevertheless particularly attacks this ; and^ 
consequently, if you desire to be truly chaste, and 
securely to preserve your purity, love humility." 

This virtue requires of you almost the mind of an 
angel; it will have you fly all visits, conversations!. 
3l» 



366 THE MEMOMAL Of 

and friendships, that may be any way prejudicial to 
it ; even sometimes those of spiritual persons ; for, as 
St. Thomas excellently well says, spiritual love is 
often changed into carnal love, because of the resem- 
blance there is between the one and the other. It 
requires that, as soon as an ill thought shall have 
■entered into your heart, you reject it with as much 
speed as you would do a coal of fire that should have 
fallen on your hand ; it requires that you employ all 
your endeavors to be so chaste and so faithful to God 
in this point, that you live as if you were without 
eyes, not to see any thing which may offend him who 
has given you them. And if you are obliged to be- 
hold any thing, then say mildly in your heart: O 
Lord, I renounce my eyes, if they dare see any thing 
which may displease thee ; suffer me not to abuse these 
eyes which thou hast created, and which thou now 
illuminatest with thy light, that I may see and ad- 
mire thy works, by making them weapons of offence 
against thee. Keeping this reservedness and this 
modesty in your looks, be assured that Almighty 
Ood will protect you, that you shall avoid many dan- 
gers, and live in great peace. It is also a part of 
chastity to gain this important point, that your heart 
be only God's, and that it be so tied and bound to 
him, that no creature can possess it. See that it be 
truly dead to the world, and, as if it were deaf and 
blind, let it neither desire to see or hear any 
thing but what is necessary or advantageous to your 
aalva^ion. Nor is it enough to have the body and 



A CHRISTIAN HFE. 367 

heart chaste — your eyes, your words, your conver- 
sation, your clothes, your table, and all the rest of 
your life must breathe forth nothing but chastity ; 
for when this virtue is perfect, it makes all thingg 
chaste and innocent, and if any one thing should not 
be so, it would undoubtedly be capable to ruin all. 

SECTION IV. 

Tempbeance in eating and drinking is, of all the 
virtues, that which most upholds chastity ; for, as St. 
John Climaeus says, to desire to be chaste, and at the 
fiame time to pamper one's body with delicacies, is. to 
do like him, that should pretend to drive away a dog 
by offering him a piece of bread. 

If you pretend, then, to any part in this virtue* 
you ought to be exceedingly careful not to overcharge 
your stomach either with wine or meat, for fear your 
spirit be oppressed by it. Use both the one and the 
other with moderation, and at your meals think much 
loss on the pleasure than on the necessity. It is nat- 
ural to find a relish in what one eats, but seek it not, 
neither stay in it with delight : dip spiritually with 
your mind in the bitter cup of your sufferings of our 
Redeemer every bit you shall put into your mouth ; 
and receive all that you shall drink, as from the liv» 
ing fountain of his sacred wounds: choose rather 
common and gross meats, than such as are dear and 
delicate, remembering that our Lord tasted gall and 
vinegar for you : but though you satisfy yourself only 
with common food, yet, if you eat it with too much 



368 THE MEMORIAL OF 

greediness, you lose all the reward of abstinence, 
which consists not so much in the quality of what is 
eaten, as in the manner of using it. St. Augustin 
teaches us, that it is not impossible for a wise man to 
preserve temperance amidst the daintiest dishes, and 
for an intemperate man to lose it at a repast, where 
khere is nothing but herbs ; since gluttony regards 
not the things that are eaten, but the disorder and 
excess with which they are taken. In fine, if you 
*re true lovers of the spiritual life, you will declare 
a perpetual war against sensuality, refusing, with dis- 
cretion, whatsoever it passionately desires. In which, 
nevertheless, you ought to take heed to chastise your 
flesh, that you ruin not your health by indiscreet ab- 
stinences. Trust not yourselves in this matter ; keep 
in it, as in all things else, necessary moderation, and 
suffer yourselves to be guided by the counsels of the 
wise. This virtue extends yet farther, since it re- 
quires that you avoid superfluity in your apparel, in 
your equipage, in your houses, in your furniture, and 
in every thing else of which you are wont to make 
ose. 

SECTION V. 

I EXHORT you also to love silence, which has a very 
strict connection with temperance ; it is called the 
mother of innocence, the key of discretion, the faith- 
ful companion of chastity, the sure guard of devotion, 
and the ornanent of youth. To exercise you profit- 
ably in it, never permit any word to proceed out of 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 

four mouth which may either prejudice your neigh- 
bor's reput:fition^ or be suspected of the least un- 
cleanness. i!^ever give ear to any that speak them ; 
but on the contrary, employ all the prudence that 
God shall have given you to break off such discourses. 
Let your speech be always free from flattery, when 
you speak of others; and from vanity, when you 
speak of yourselves. Avoid being crabbed in your 
language ; endeavoring, on the contrary, to give it 
all the sweetness and affability you can, without af- 
fectation. Particularly shun artifice, and let your 
discourses be simple and sincere^ as those of Jesus 
Christ's true children ought to be. Never utter any 
idle words, because it would be to make an ill use of 
your time ; but especially abstain from such as savor 
of raillery, because there is nothing that hinders de- 
votion more. But the two most dangerous rocks 
you are obliged to fear, are the speaking well 
of yourselves, and ill of your neighbor. The better 
to secure yourselves froin all those dangers, speak 
little ; if you can be silent without prejudicing charity 
or obedience, willingly hold your peace ; let not your 
silence, nevertheless, be burdensome, or of ill edifi- 
cation to any one ; and when you shall be obliged to 
speak, be as brief as possible you can ; speak with 
circumspection, and before you open your mouth, re- 
solve within yourself to say nothing but what shall 
be absolutely necessary. Do not easily engage your- 
self to contradict the sentiments of another, nor be 
obstinate against any one ; but after you have twice 



i70 THE ll£MOaUL Of 

or .hrice asserted what you hold for truth, if you ai« 
not believed, leave others to think what they please, 
and continue silent, unless your silence be manifestly 
prejudicial to God's glory. Take heed of appearing 
too much wedded to your own opinions : meddle not 
with unpleasing disputes in your conversation ; in- 
sist not over-earnestly and with too much heat, even 
on things you know ; but say, simply and modestly, 
I think it is so, or. It is so, if T am not mistaken. 
Not to deceive yourselves in this matter, which is so 
ordinary and so important, and, as the grammariana 
say, not to commit any barbarism in this spiritual 
language, when you desire to speak, consider seven 
things, or seven circumstances. The first is^ the 
matter of which you will speak : which ought to be of 
things good, profitable, or necessary, rejecting such as 
are evil, unprofitable, or dangerous. The second is, 
the end for which you shall speak ; which ought to be 
free from dissimulation, interest, and vanity, but ftdl of 
simplicity and freedom, having an honest and solid 
aim. The third is, the manner how you shall utter 
your words : speak without being over-much moved, 
without making too much noise, and also without af- 
fecting a certain negligence and delicacy, but after a 
fashion tempered with mildness and gravity ; neither 
let your discourse be heavy and unpleasant, but 
agreeable and sweet, as they say St. Basil's talk was. 
Women particularly should take care to speak with- 
out affectation, and very simply, and their language 
aught to resemble water, which is said to be best 



A CHRISTIAN LIFK. 371 

when it hLA no taste at all. It is also a great defect 
to desire to appear always eloquent, and to maice 
studied discourses ; this is a great vice in men, and 
a dangerous thing in woman. The' fourth regards 
the person who speaks, for it is not lawful for young 
persons to speak with so much liberty. Silence is a 
great ornament to that age, and shows a reserved- 
ness and shamefacedness, which very much become 
it, especially in maidens, according to that wise re- 
monstrance which St. Ambrose addresses to them: 
**Let virgins look to themselves, and their manner 
of speaking ; for to speak many words, though they 
are good, is often a gfeat fault in a maiden." The 
fifth is, to consider before whom one speaks: for 
respect must be had to wise and ancient men : neither 
must one. speak in their presence, but when it is 
necessary, or that one cannot be excused from it. 
The sixth is, to consider the place in which one 
speaks; for there are some places where one may 
speak, and there are others where one must be silent, 
as in the church, or other places, where one is obliged 
to behave himself with respect. The seventh is, to 
examine the time ; for, as the wise man says, " There 
IS a time to keep silence, and a time to speak." Ec- 
des. iii. 7. And herein is prudence as remarkable as 
any thing else whatever, especially when there is an 
intent of rebuking, exhorting, or counselling any 
one; for it is good in all things to take a fit and 
proper time especially in those where, for want of 
considering this circumstance, one runs the hazard 



872 THE MEMORIAL Of 

of Speaking unprofitably, and reaping no fruit from 
one's words. And this it is that made the wise man 
say, that " to speak a word in due time, is like apples 
of gold on beds of silver.'' Prov, xxv. 11. 

You ought, therefore, exactly to weigh all these 
circumstances, if you design to keep your tongue in- 
nocent; for in what manner soever you transgress 
these rules, you offend ; and since it is very difficult 
not to infringe some of them, when one speaks, the 
most secure way for avoiding these shelves and rocks 
is, to shelter yourselves in the haven ; that is, to oon- 
tinue in silence. 

SECTION VI. 

Having thus regulated and mortified your tongue, 
there remains yet a more important step for you to 
make : you must proceed to the mortification of your 
own will, which is another key of good life, and there 
is nothing so available for the attaining to it, as 
the submitting yourselves to the laws of obedience. 
Highly esteem this virtue, and take pleasure to ex- 
ercise yourselves in it ; for you cannot offer to God a 
more agreeable sacrifice than the destruction of your 
own perverse and rebellious will. Whatever action 
you do through obedience, how mean and low soever 
it is, God will raise it, and recompense it, as if it 
were very excellent : and, on the contrary, God will 
never approve of any of your actions, how eminent 
soever it appears, if it be repugnant to the obedienot 
j'ou owe to him, or to your superiors. Whoever, 



A CHRISTIAN L.*i2, 373 

therefore, you are, obey, and that with a fre^ and 
cheerful heart, those who are over you; honor them 
for the love of God ; for though they are not, perhaps, 
worthy of respect, if you regard their person, yet 
they are because of their office: obey even your 
equals and your inferiors, in such things as prudence 
and decency will permit. Be very glad to be repre- 
hended or taught by another, whoever he may be ; 
and if you are too severely rebuked, let your defence 
be humble, if you think fit to make use of any ; 
though it may be better for you on such occasions, 
in imitation of your Saviour, to suffer and be silent, 
unless your silence may cause scandal. " Be ye sub- 
ject therefore to ev^ry human creature for God's 
gake." 1 Peter ii. 13. And when you shall receive 
from him extraordinary favors and consolations, tak« 
heed of being puffed up by them, or esteeming your- 
selves the better for this reason ; for, indeed, what- 
soever good you have comes from God, and whatso- 
ever is faulty or sinful in you, is from yourselves. 

S E C T I O N V 1 1 

Learn also to suffer, without murmuring and com- 
plaining, the injuries, contempts, calumnies, afflictions, 
and losses, which Almighty God shall permit you to 
undergo ; believing, as it is undoubtedly true, that 
these evils befall you through his ever just and ever 
merciful providence ; conceive no indignation or ha- 
tred against those by whom they are inflicted on you ; 
but, on the contrary, according io your master'^ 
32 



874 THE MEMORIAL OF 

exany)le, show yourselves gentle and courteous to* 
wards them. 

Judge not of men, nor make estimation of them 
by their body, in which you see nothing but what i& 
miserable ; but by the dignity of their soul, created 
after the image of God. Never show a dislike to any 
one ; be yet more careful never to appear angry, mel- 
ancholy, or peevish; but, on the contrary, in your 
words, in your conversation, when you answer any 
one, keep always with the gravity which your profes- 
sion requires, sweetness and affability Bear gently 
with other men's faults ; and as for such as offend 
God's honor, procure with all possible care, either bj 
yourselves, or by others, that they may be corrected ; 
but let this be always done with sweetness and char- 
ity, and when you shall know that it may be profita- 
bly done ; hate sin in men, but hate not the men for 
the sin's sake ; for men are God's work, and sin is the 
work of men. Be always ready to do good to aU, 
even to those who wish you ill, and have as much 
compassion for those who do evil, as for those who 
suffer it : be particularly touched for the souls of the 
faithful which are tormented in purgatory, and pray 
with great affection for them. To render yourselves 
more sensible of other's miseries, put yourselves in 
the place of those who bear them, and then you will 
feel them as your own. Envy no man ; speak ill of 
no man ; have a good opinion of every one : and if 
there arise any sinister suspicions in your heart, re- 
ject them immediately, for fear they take root in it. 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 876 

Despise no man ; never despair of a sinner's conver- 
sion ; for such a one as you see to-day a criminal, 
may to-morrow, by Grod's grace, be changed. Have 
a firm purpose never to judge any one, and always 
interpret the words or actions of another in the best 
part, seeing and hearing all things with a sincere and 
charitable heart. 

Trouble not yourselves at the great calamities you 
see happen in the world; but trust in God's provi- 
dence, without which a bird falls not to the ground. 
Courageously recommend yourselves, and all things 
that concern you, to the divine Providence, relying 
with an entire confidence, in all your troubles, on the 
mercy of so good a Master; address yourselves to 
him by fervent prayers, according to this counsel of 
the prophet : " Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he 
shall sustain thee." Psalm liv. 23. And if it some- 
times happens, that you feel not any inward consola- 
tion, and that your heart is thereby cast down, grow 
not, therefore, slack in your resolution, but redouble 
your prayers, making them with abundance of faith 
and humility in our Lord's presence, and not seeking 
after vain comforts to divert you, for he himself will 
comfort you. If the wicked spirit inspires into you 
evil thoughts, which are sometimes horrible and 
abominable, make no account of them, but speedily 
shut the eyes of thy soul against these base objects ; 
for you will more easily vanquish these assaults by 
slighting them, than by employing much labor and 
diligence to combat them. Believe not that you havo 



876 THE MEMORIAL OP 

been wounded by your enemies darts, if you have 
stoutly resisted, and repelled them with speed; there 
befalls you nothing in this which requires to be con- 
fessed; for we are, without doubt, obliged to confess 
our sins, but not the temptations of sin to which we 
give no consent, nor are knowingly or negligently the 
cause of bringing them on. Unclean thoughts do 
not defile us, unless they delight us ; for there is great 
difference between feeling the evil, and consenting tc 
it. And many great saints have sometimes experi- 
enced in their flesh very troublesome and violent 
motions to sin, but having opposed them with their 
reason and their will, they have served only to gain 
them new crowns. 

SECTION VIII. 

Do not imagine that holiness consists in receiving 
great comforts and great sweetnesses, nor that those 
tender sentiments, which sometimes produce foun- 
tains of tears, are certain signs of a true devotion. 
These marks are so deceitful, that heretics and pagans 
have often felt these kind of transports. True devo- 
tion is a fervent readiness, residing in the will, to do 
always what is pleasing to God, and what regards his 
honor and service ; it produces always advantageous 
fruits, though the spirit remains dry, and the heart 
wholly barren. To be spiritual, therefore, desire not. 
with too much eagerness these inward delights ; but be 
equally ready either to receive them, or be deprived of 
tfaem, as it shall please the Almighty God. If he is 



, A CUKXSTIAN WJFB. B^TT 

pleased lo comfort you, accept this favor with an 
humble acknowledgment; take heed of using this 
present for your own sole satisfaction, and being so 
taken with the gift you have received as to forget him 
that gave it : continue as humble and as quiet when 
you are visited as when you are not ; and place not 
your security and repose so much in the gifts of God, 
as in Grod himself, who is the giver of them, and your 
last end. If any grace is bestowed on you, how small 
soever it be, believe that you are unworthy of it, and 
that you deserve only pains and afflictions, and not 
caresses. If in praying to Almighty God, or singing 
his praises, you cannot be so attentive as you would, 
lose therefore neither your courage nor your confi- 
dence ; for though your mind may be distracted, your 
prayers will not cease to be pleasing to God, if you 
consent not to the distraction, and if you do on your 
part aU you can ; if with a good heart you offer to 
God your will, such as it is, and persevere with care 
ttud simplicity in prayer. Be not then impatient^ 
Dor excessively troubled, nor afflict yourselves, but 
after you have done your utmost endeavors, yield 
yourselves up wholly to God ; for he is so good, that 
he bears with those who, speaking to him in prayer, 
let sometimes things unworthy of his presence enter 
into their thoughts. Say to him on these occasions: 
Lord, thou seest how my heart slips from me, and 
how it is unhappily distracted in divers places. Have 
pity on me, who am a poor sinner. Good Jesus, an- 
«wer for me, and supply my defects. I stagger at 
32* 



878 THE MEMORIAL Of 

every step, by reason of my weakness ; give me tby 
hand for fear I fall. But, my God, what thanka 
ought I not to render to thy goodness, that falling so 
often, because I am weak and sick, thou art still my 
protector and support ! 

Dispose yourselves to receive often the holy com- 
munion, to glorify God ; and if it is not granted you 
in effect, as often as you would desire it, let not this 
disquiet you; but be contented to approach it with 
heart and will : for none can hinder you from coming 
to our Lord in this manner, and enjoying him, if you 
are so minded, a thousand times a day. 

SECTION IX. 

At night, before you go to bed, seriously recollect 
yourself, and take a very strict account of all things 
in which you have been employed that day ; after 
this, betaking yourself to your bed, settle your body 
in an honest and decent posture ; endeavor as much 
as you can that sleep may come upon you whilst you 
are thinking on God ; strive to be in such manner 
possessed of him, and the sentiments of his love, at 
your falling asleep, that you may still be quite full 
of them when you shall awake. As soon as you shall 
have opened your eyes, let your heart be lifted up to 
God ; give him your first thoughts and words, say- 
ing with the prophet, " God, my God, to thee do I 
watch at break of day ;" (^Psalm Ixii. 1.) or, as he 
gays a little after, "I will meditate on thee in the 
morning, because thou hast been my helper." ihid 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 8t9 

7, 8. In this manner ought you to prepare yourself 
for receiving the spirit of grace and devotion, which 
in a Christian should never be interrupted. But if 
you are not as quiet and as free as you would be, to 
apply yourself to God ; or if any filthy dreams have 
troubled you during your sleep, be not therefore ex- 
traordinarily affli<3ted, but, on the contrary, make good 
ose of it; and as soon as your reason shall have got 
the mastery, abhor these base illusions, humble your- 
self, and suffer with patience the disquiet they have 
given you. 

Take all manner of care to avoid not only great 
eins, but even the least negligence ; for if you are 
not resolved to abstain from every thing that may be 
displeasing to God, or diminish his love, you will 
never arrive either at a perfect purity or peace of 
heart : this kind of defect will perhaps appear light 
to you, but they will become great if you neglect 
them; and there is no enemy so little, but may be- 
come dangerous when he is contemned. Wherefore 
St. Gregory said very well, "It is sometimes more 
dangerous to fall into small faults than into great 
ones; for greater sins being so evident, that they 
strike the senses, and often the heart, are more easily 
amended ; but the others being less known, less care 
is taken to shun them, and so in time they cause 
many disorders." I say not this, that you should lose 
your confidence for having fallen into some sin of that 
nature, nor that you ought to fly from God's presence: 
but, on the contrary, return to him humbly and mth 



380 THE MEMORIAL 0» 

affection ; speak to him with sorrow of the evil jon 
have committed ; accuse your ingratitude, and weep 
tenderly before him for having ojQfended so good a 
Master. Fasten not your eyes only on the greatness 
of your misery, but consider also the immensity of 
his mercy, which cannot fail those who return to him 
with all their heart : and to enter again entirely into 
his favor, offer to the eternal Father in satisfaction 
for your sins, the life and death of his only Son ; and 
beg of his Son to wash away your stains through the 
merits of his most precious blood, which he has shed 
for you. After this, hope in God, and continue to 
serve him with the same courage and the same heart 
you had before you fell into sin. 

Take heed you be not discouraged or grow faint 
hearted, because you perceive in you some defects, or 
gome passions, which you cannot with all your indus- 
try totally subdue: recommend them to the divine 
mercy, and without ever losing hope, suffer this con- 
dition humbly and patiently ; persevere in good^ and 
put yourselves in the hands of Almighty God. If 
you fall a hundred times a day rise again as often, 
in hopes he will pardon you ; and resolve every mo- 
ment to be more attentive and more vigilant over 
your actions. Confide not, however, in yourselves, 
nor in your own strength, but in the sole goodness 
of God, who never fails those who do on their side 
what they can. Let all the affections of your soul be 
so directed towards God, that he may be to you ail 
in all things, and all things in him : consider theia 



A OJlIilSXlAN l^IFE. 381 

uot in themselves, nor for what thej are ; make them 
out the object of your delight, but respect them all 
in God, considering the best and most important 
qualification they have, which is, that they proceed 
from him, and represent something of him; and thus 
the joy and satisfaction they shall give you, will not 
only be more pure, but also far sweeter and much 
greater Recommend all your works and all your 
exercises to the divine wisdom, to the end it may di- 
rect them and perfect them ; offer them to your 
Saviour and his eternal Father, as being united and 
incorporated to the life and actions of his Son, for 
the glory of his church, and for the salvation of 
all the believers of which it is composed. By this 
means, all your works and exercises will become holy, 
and infinitely pleasing to Almighty God, through the 
inestimable value of those of his dear Son, under the 
shadow of which they will pass for good in God's 
sight, and whence they draw all their grace. This 
is the counsel given to us by the holy apostle St. 
Peter, when he invites us to oflfer to God the sacrifice 
of good works, that they may be acceptable to him 
through Jesus Christ. Offer, then, to his divine 
Majesty all your pains, great and little, internal and 
external, with all the labors you undergo, from which 
the present life cannot be exempted, to the end^ that 
all your actions may draw their price and value from 
the merits of the blood and passion of the Son of 

aod. 



382 THE MEMORIAL 0? 

SECTION X. 

Be not too hasty or too eager in the things you 
undertake ; be not over-much affected to them, bo as 
to make yourselves their slaves ; but always endeavor 
to preserve yourselves in a free choice, even in mat- 
ters of virtue ; follow not the first motions of your 
heart, if they have too much violence ; consider well ; 
with prudence and judgment regulate your affections, 
and, consequently, all the actions they are to produce ; 
trust not to what they appear at first ; your intention 
may be good, they also may be good ; but there is 
no virtue which is to be esteemed a virtue, if it be 
not accompanied with discretion ; and piety itself, 
without discretion, may be hurtful. Prudently re- 
move from you whatever may serve as an occasion 
to make you lose the peace and tranquillity of your 
heart ; and, above all, let your principal care be to 
banish from your soul, wrath, covetousness, vain 
pleasures, fear, joy, sorrow, love, hatred, and all the 
passions which might disturb its quiet. Be no less 
careful to preserve yourselves from indiscreet scruples, 
and from all superfluous thoughts, which may cause 
trouble to your mind ; be not disquieted at such ac- 
cidents as may befall you in this life ; since, in effect, 
all things in this world are transitory, and so all the 
losses you can suffer are as payments anticipated for 
*.he next life, and favors of God for all eternity. In 
fine, entirely disengage your luind, as well as your 
affections, from the present world, which passes away 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 383 

ilmost in an instant ; recollect all your forces and all 
your powers within yourselves, and there continually 
communicate alone with Almighty God. 

At all times, and in all places, consider his* pres- 
ence with awe; for at what time, and in what place 
Boever you are, he is never absent, but is in all places. 
Speak to him with confidence, as to a friend whom 
you have near you, and fear not to discover to him 
your purposes, and the sentiments of your soul. Ac- 
custom yourselves to treat with him in private, and 
ho. assured that this familiarity, if I may be permit- 
ted to speak so, will be wonderfully beneficial to you, 
IjQse neither courage nor hope, for seeing your heart 
80 inconstant, and finding so much difficulty to mas- 
ter your understanding and fix it on God. Persevere 
valiantly; it is a horse got loose, chastise it in such 
manner that it may be obliged to return to its course ; 
for after you shall have with a little trouble accus- 
tomed it, it will not only be sweet and easy to think 
on God, and the things that concern him, but you 
will be scarcely able to pass an hour without so doing. 
But if you find your soul sometimes distracted, make 
it return to its first exercise, and say to it, where 
hast thou been wandering, my soul ? What ad- 
vantage has accrued to thee by being separated from 
thy Lord, having lost thy time, and unprofitably dis- 
tracted thy heart ? Be no longer a wanderer, since 
there is nothing so much misbecomes the spouse of 
the heavenly King. 

Set also often before your eyes the image of Jesus 



H84 THE MEMORIAL OV 

(Thrist, God and man, nailed on the cross, and pmt 
it as deep as you possibly can in the bottom of yonr 
heart. Reverence with a sincere devotion his holy 
wounds, which deserve that you should render them 
eternal homage ; hide yourselves in them with a holy 
confidence, accompanied with humility. If you em- 
ploy all your senses in this lively represeLiation of 
your Saviour's torments, there will be no room left 
for other figures and strange imaginations ; and as 
one nail drives out another, all vain thoughts will flj 
away from before the presence of this. Pwell, then, 
as much as you can, with yourselves ; treat witk 
yourselves ; disentangle your heart, and remove from 
it all transitory things ; look steadfastly on your God, 
who always beholds you; let your heart speak to 
-him, let your voice sometimes express your love to 
him, and esteem it the greatest of all losses to be 
separated one only moment from this sovereign Good, 
in which all other good things are included. 



CHAPTER V. 



Of a Christianas most essential Obligations tuwanb 
God, towards Himself, md towards his Ntrghoor, 

Having spoken of the virtues in general, we add 
this chapter, to treat of them more particularly ; and 
we shall apply what has been hitherto said, to the 
principal obligations of a Christian, by which he ii 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 386 

to acquit himself of what he owes to Grod, to himself 
and to his neighbors. The prophet Michaeas placed 
the sum of all virtues in these three parts of justice, 
when he said, **I will show thee, man, what is 
good, and what the Lord require th of thee ; verily 
to do judgment, to love mercy, and to walk solicitous 
with thy God." Mic. vi. 8. For the first of these 
instructions, which is to judge equitably, particularly 
respects ourselves ; the second, to love mercy, regards 
our neighbor ; and the third, to be careful to please 
^od, pertains to his worship, and the homage that is 
due to him. 

^ SECTION I. 

To begin with the strictest and most important of 
these obligations, you shall observe, that as amongst 
precious stones there are some which their kind alone 
renders much more estimable than others, as rubies, 
diamonds, and emeralds ; so amongst virtues, there 
are some which of their own nature incomparably 
exceed the rest. These are they which respect God, 
and are for this reason called theological; to which 
we may also add the fear of God, and religion, the 
property whereof is to honor this sublime Majesty, 
and whatever concerns the divine worship and ser- 
vice. These are the first and most necessary ;• and 
it may be said, that they are not only the first and 
most considerable, but that they are also those which 
stir up the others, and give them life and motion. 
They are in respect to the other virtues, what the 
as 



886 -r^HE BffiBfOltXAL OF 

heavens are in respect of the inferior oreatorea, wlitch 
depend on their influences and their courses. If you 
design then to attain to perfection, endeavor to pos- 
sess them all universally, if you can ; for as to make 
a harp render pleasing music, all its strings must be 
perfectly in tune, and every one do its office; so 
to form the life of a perfect Christian, all the virtues 
must contribute and agree together; but you must 
particularly cultivate these and advance in them, be- 
cause they are the term of perfection ; and you will 
be so much the more perfect, as you shall have made 
greater progress in them. It was hereby, I believe^ 
that many of the holy patriarchs were so signal in 
virtue ; for though they were rich Snd married, and 
though the consideration of their families and estates 
engaged them in many cares and temporal affairs, 
they ceased not, nevertheless, to be very great saints, 
because they possessed theee high virtues in perfec- 
tion; and there is nothing more illustrious in their 
lives, than their exercising themselves in them, as 
appears in the faith and obedience of Abraham ; in 
the piety, in the devotion, in the submission of David, 
and in the confidence this great king had in God ; he 
sought no other assistance, nor other refugee in all his 
troubles ; he trusted only in him, as a true child does 
in a good father, and much more so, since he said, 
" My father and my mother have left me, but the 
Lord hath taken me up.'* Psalm xxvi. 10. 

Now the securest and fittest means to acquire these 
excellent virtues, is, to believe, and print firmly yl 



A CHRISTIAN LP'S. 887 

your minds, that God is truly your Father, and more 
than your father, since there is no fatherly heart that 
equals his : there is not any love of a father, or care 
of a mother, which comes near that he has for you ; 
and there is none but he who has created you, and 
stores up for you the greatest of all good things. 
Being thoroughly persuaded of this truth, always 
look on him with the eyes and with the heart of true 
children ; that is, with a loving heart, a tender heart, 
an humble and respectful heart, a heart obedient and 
entirely submitted to his holy will, and, in fine, with 
a heart full of confidence amidst your troubles, and 
which desires no other protection, but under the wings 
of bis providence. You ought then to behold Al- 
mighty Grod with such eyes, and with such a heart, 
as often as you shall call him to mind ; and you are 
obliged to call him to mind as often as you can, that 
you may by little and little, with the assistance of 
God's grace, form in yourselves a heart disposed like 
that of the prophet, who said, " Thy name, Lord, 
and thy remembrance, are the desire of the soul. 
My soul hath desired thee in the night ; yea, and with 
my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch 
to thee." Isai, xxvi. 8, 9. 

There are no words capable to express what this 
kind of heart and afi'ection towards God is ; the forces 
of nature are not alone sufficient to give it to us : he 
therefore only knows it, who has experienced it, and 
he only possesses it, who has been so happy as to have 
received it. Wherefore you ought incessantly to beg 



288 THE MEMORIAL OF 

this favor, and not to lose the hopes of obtaining it, 
relying on these words of the Son of God : " If you 
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your 
children, how much more will your heavenly Father 
give the good spirit to them that ask him ?" Luhc 
xi. 13. This is that spirit of which the apostle speaks, 
when he says, " You have not again received the 
spirit of servitude and fear, but you have received 
the spirit of adoption of the sons of God, which caus- 
eth us to cry, Abba, Father :" that is to say, that 
your inclinations are the same for God, as those which 
children have for their father; that you love him, 
that you honor him, that you obey him^ and that you 
have recourse to him in all your necessities with the 
earns confidence as children have in their earthly 
father. This is that heart which our Lord promises 
you by the mouth of the prophet Ezechiel, in these 
words : " I will give you a new heart, and put a new 
spirit within you, and I will take away the stony 
heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart 
of flesh, and I will put my spirit in the midst of you, 
and I will cause you to walk in my commandments, 
and to keep my judgments, and do them." Ezecli. 
xxxvi. 26, 27. In fine, it is this spirit of children, 
which all the prophets have so often and so unani- 
mously promised you in their writings by the merits 
of the only Son of God, and which was particularly 
given to the faithful on the day of Pentecost, and 
which was afterwards spread over all the church. 
And to descend more into particulars, if this spirit 



A CHBISTIAir LIFE. 389 

reigns in you, and if God has given you this heart 
of which we speak, these dispositions will appear by 
the effects, of which the principal, according to St. 
Vincentius Lirinensis are those, and the procuring of 
which you ought with the greatest care to endeavor : 
" A most fervent love, an extreme fear, a great res- 
pect, a most constant zeal, a continual giving of 
thanks, a praise-sounding-voice, a ready obedience, 
and an interior joy, which makes you seek God, and 
find nothing sweet or agreeable but him. To obtain 
these holy dispositions, pray without intermission, and 
gay to our Lord, good Jesus, grant that I may 
love thee most fervently, and with all the powers of 
my soul ; let me infinitely honor and fear thee, let me 
have so much zeal for the glory of thy holy name, 
and in such manner seek to advance it, that the least 
injury offered to thee may burn and pierce my heart ; 
let me with very great humility acknowledge thy 
benefits, and incessantly give thee thanks for them 
as I ought ; let me continually praise thee, spending 
days and nights in this exercise." Tract, de Vita 
Spirituali. And saying to thee with all my heart, 
as did thy prophet, " I will bless the Lord at all times ; 
his praise shall be always in my mouth.*' Psalm 
xxxiii. 1. Grant me also this grace, that perfectly 
obeying thee, I may taste how sweet thou art, to the 
end I may increase more and more in thy love, and 
keep thy commandments with more faithfulness. 
33* 



S90 THE MEMORIAL OF 



SECTION II. 

These affections and these virtues directly regard 
Almighty God ; but the bame saint requires also some 
others, which more immediately respect ourselves, 
and reduces them to the number of seven. And 
first he would, that a true child of God should be 
always full of a holy confession for his sins. Second- 
ly, that he should be sorry for them, and bewail 
them all his life, because they have offended God, and 
polluted his soul. Thirdly, that in respect of his 
being a sinner, he should desire to be despised, for- 
gotten, and forsaken of all the world, believing him- 
self unworthy to be regarded of men, or receive the 
least favor from them. Fourthly, that he should 
consider his body as the source of his sins, and that 
for this reason he should mortify it, and treat it with 
all the rigor it deserves. Fifthly, that he conceive 
an irreconcilable hatred against all his vicious incli- 
nations, and that he labor without ceasing, not only 
to cut off the branches of them, but also to pluck up 
totally their roots. Sixthly, that with extraordinary 
diligence, and exact faithfulness, he endeavor, that in 
all his actions, in his words, in his senses, and in all 
the motions of his soul, there may not anything be 
found contradictory to justice, or which may in the 
least withdraw him from the law and commandments 
of Almighty God. And, seventhly, that modesty 
and prudence appear in all his conduct, so that there 
be nothing either superfluous or defective seen in it. 



A CHRlSTtAN LIFB. 891 

SECTION III. 

Tflis great saint adds also in the same place seven 
Other dispositions, which are no less necessary than 
the first, and are to be exercised towards our neigh- 
bor. First, to have a true compassion of other men's 
miseries, lamenting them as if they were our own. 
Secondly, to rejoice sincerely at their prosperity, aa 
we would do at any happiness that should befall our- 
selves. Thirdly, to bear with quietness and patience 
the injuries which are done to us, and to pardon them 
with all our heart. Fourthly, to treat every one with 
abundance of charity ; and that this charity appear 
not only in our behaviour and discourses, but that 
mr souls be filled with it, that it may be imparted to 
our neighbor as occasion shall require. Fifthly, to 
show respect towards all sorts of persons, to behold 
none without esteeming them more considerable and 
better than ourselves, and to subject ourselves to all 
men, as if they were indeed our lords. Sixthly, to 
keep perfect peace and perfect union with all men, 
so that on our part, and as far as we can with Grod's 
good pleasure, we may think and say the same thing 
with all ; persuading ourselves, that among Catholics 
there is nothing separate, that they are all one and 
the same thing ; and that, therefore, there ought to 
be but one and the same sentiment, and one and 
the same will, between us and others. Seventhly, to 
be in a sincere disposition, after the example of Jesus 
Christ, to offer yourselves for all men ; that is, to be 
always prepared to expose our lives for the salvation 



892 THE MEMORIAL OF 

of all ; to pray day and night to Almighty God for 
all ; and to endeavor continually that all be one only 
thing in Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ in them. 
But think not that you are thereby less obliged to 
shun the company of the wicked ; on the contrary, 
you ought to know, that if there are any whose con- 
versation has been to you an occasion of sin, who 
have given a hindrance to your spiritual advancement, 
or who have been the cause that the fervor of charity 
has decreased in your soul, you ought to fly from 
them, as from serpents. There is no coal, how thor- 
oughly lighted soever, which is not quenched by being 
put into water ; and there is none which is so quench- 
ed but that it will kindle again if you mix it with 
others that are burning. Avoid, then, dangerous 
occasions ; but when there shall be no cause to fear 
them, converse simply with your neighbor; examine 
not too exactly his defects ; if they are so visible that 
they cannot be concealed, either suffer them with 
patience, or reprehend them with charity, when you 
shall judge that your admonitions may be profitable. 
But because charity and mercy towards our neigh- 
bor is the root and foundation of all these virtues, it 
is this you ought most to esteem, if you desire to 
please Almighty God, since there is none which he so 
often and so earnestly recommends in all the Scrip- 
tures. The prophet Zachary relates, that the Jews 
asking God, whether to please him and fulfil his law, 
they ought to fast certain days in the year ; God, to 
let them know what works were most pleasing to him, 



A CHRISTIAN LIFE. 393 

answered them in this manner ; " Thus saith the Lord 
of hosts, saying, Judge ye true judgment, and show 
ye mercy and compassion every man to his brother : 
and oppress not the widow, and the fatherless, and 
the stranger, and the poor : and let not a man devise 
evil in his heart against his brother.^' Zach. viL 9, 
10. These are the very express words which proceed 
out of the Lord's mouth ; but he extols this yet much 
higher, when he says, " This is my rest, refresh the 
weary," Isa. xxviii. 12. For could God more exalt 
the works of mercy, than by putting himself in the 
place of the poor, and taking for his own, the refresh- 
ment and assistance which is given the miserable ? 
But, above all, I cannot sufficiently admire what I 
have read in Ezechiel, where God, with his own 
mouth, relating the sins which cast the town of Sod- 
om into the extremity of all miseries, reduces them 
to five, in these terrible words : " This was the ini- 
quity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, 
and abundance, and the idleness of her, and of her 
daughters ; and they did not put forth their hand to 
the needy and to the poor." EzecJi. xvi. 49. What 
ought you, then, to think of this vice, and how odious 
in the sight of God is hard-heartedness towards the 
poor, since he places it at the last step by which this 
people ascended to the greatest of all abominations ! 
How strange is the blindness of Christians, to make 
themselves imitators of Sodom, to employ all their 
cares for the heaping up of treasures, and to place 
their sovereign felicity in abundance! You have 



894 THB MEMORIAL Of 

hitherto heard the law of the prophete ; the gospel^ 
which is the law of love, speaks no other language ; 
and can any thing greater be said in favor of mercy, 
than what the Son of God himself taught us, when 
he said, that the sentence which shall be pronounced 
at the last judgment, shall be grounded only on the 
having exercised or neglected the works of charity? 
Is there any thing that can make us more esteem 
this virtue than these following words : " What you 
have done to the least of these, you have done it to 
me.'' Matt. xxv. 40. And do we not see that our 
Saviour has placed the whole accomplishment of the 
law and the prophets on the only precept of loving 
God and our neighbor? In fine^ Jesus Christ, being 
ready to depart out of this world, recommended 
nothing so expressly to his disciples in that great ser- 
mon he made to them after his last supper, as to pre- 
serve charity, and to bear love to their brethren. 
" This is my commandment," says our Lord, " that 
ye love one another as I have loved you." John xv, 
12. And a little before he said, "By this shall all 
men know that ye are my disciples, if you have loved 
one for another." John xiii. 35. Nor is his heart 
contented with only giving them this last command- 
ment, but, turning immediately towards his Father, 
he addresses to him a fervent prayer, that he would 
imprint this precept in their minds, and that the ac- 
complishment of the law might be manifested in 
their perfect charity: "Holy Father," says the Son 
>f God, "I pray that they all may be one, a« thou. 



4 CH&XBHAN xint SM 

Father, in me, and I in thee, that the world may be- 
lieve that thou hast sent me;" (John xvii. 11 & 12.) 
both to let every one know, that the charity of Chris- 
tians towards one another ought to be so perfect, and 
80 far above whatsoever can be expected from flesh 
and blood, that there should be no "need of any more' 
powerful argument for the convincing of unbelievers, 
and to make them believe that it was impossible, that 
they who loved one another with so fervent and so' 
disinterested a love, could be any other than heavenly 
men.^ 

You see, then, what the eharity should be that yon 
ought to have for your neighbor, and with what af- 
fection you are obliged to bear with him in his de- 
fects, and relieve him in his necessities. But you 
must observe, that for the making a holy use of all » 
thittgs T have hitherto proposed to you, there is nothing 
80 necessary as to watch continually over yourselves 
with fear and trembling, and to dread nothing so 
much as the falling short of your fidelity to God, in 
the good resolutions you shall have taken for the 
government of your life. This holy vigilance, and 
this care, will serve you as a quickening spur to keep 
you from ever falling asleep in the way of virtue : 
and you ought never to lose them, even in the midst 
of your employments and affairs, since this saving 
fear, and this exact care never to do the least thing 
which may be displeasing to Almighty God, is, aa- 
cording to the prophet, the third part of justice. 

These, then, are the principal virtues which 



396 THE MEMORIAL Of 

hellish this heavenly life ; these are ihe flowert of 
this paradise, the stars of this heaven, and the image 
whereof we have spoken to you, renewed and reform- 
ed after the resemblance of Jesus Christ ; for the life 
of a Christian ought to be so perfect, that it should 
be a pattern of holiness, a light to the worlds an 
evident proof of the true faith, and a mirror in which 
God's glory may be more clearly seen to shine, than 
in all the other creatures ; as the prophet excellently 
well signifies : " The valiant and the just shall be call- 
ed trees, which our Lord has planted, that he might 
be glorified in them." Isaias Ixi. 3. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Twelve principal things which they ought to do, who 
desire to serve Almighty God. 

Since I know that several persons desire to have 
always before their eyes the principal points of this 
spiritual life, I will endeavor succinctly to set before 
you most important and most essential things ; those 
which you ought to do, and those you ought to shun ; 
to the end that this abridgment may serve you as a 
landscape, in which you may, at one view, behold 
your most particular obligations. 

And to begin with those which you ought to do; 
tho first is, that you endeavor to continue always Ia 
Qod's presence by an actual application * but if thii 



A CHRISTIAN LIfB. 8f7 

atnnot be without intermission, at lea&(t both day and 
night, often lift up your heart to him by fervent as- 
pirations, by short but humble and devout prayers, 
and beg of him his love and his grace, as being able 
to do nothing without him. 

The second is, that as the bee seeks amongst the 
flowers only some juice to carry into her hive, so yoa 
in all things that shall come before you, in all your 
conversations, and in all your readings, should always 
endeavor to collect some pious and devout thoughts, 
of which you may compose the honey of divine love. 
And as fire consumes, and converts into its own 
nature, whatever is put into it, even what is most 
contrary thereunto, as water, or the hardest metal, as 
iron or steel ; so let your heart be in such manner 
inflamed with this love, that all things in the world, 
of what quality soever they be, may only serve for 
matter to augment its heat. 

The third is, that if you fall into any faults, or 
perceive your strength weakened or dissipated, do 
not lose your courage, nor suffer yourselves to sink 
under temptations ; but rather turn humbly towards 
our Lord^ acknowledge before him your misery and 
his mercy ; do, on your part, whatsoever shall be in 
your power, to return to your first state, and follow 
eourageously what you had begun. 

The fourth is, that in whatsoever you shall do, yon 

bring always a great purity of intention, which obligei 

you to examine attentively all your words and actioni, 

and even your thoughts, and to mark the intention 

Z4t 



S98 THE MEMORIAL 09 

they may have; endeavor to rectify it, and incline it 
continually towards God, referring to his glory what- 
ever shall proceed from you, and offering yourselves 
to his Majesty, not only once every day, but as often 
as you shall begin any thing. 

The fifth is, that even in the time of peace and 
tranquillity you be always prepared to receive humbly 
til the storms which may rise up against you. It 
seldom happens, that wrath and hastiness are any 
way useful ; but it is more extraordinary that they 
would produce any thing that is good ; they leave, 
at least, the conscience always full of scruples, and 
it is difficult to judge whether one has exceeded in 
them or not; it is, therefore, one of the passions 
which you may most easily subdue, and if you en- 
deavor to surmount it you shall live with much 
repose. 

The sixth is, that if you are not a prelate, or the 
father of a family, you always turn your eyes from 
the imperfections of others, and cast them on your 
own; for the first ordinarily draws after it pride, 
wrath, rash judgment, indiscreet zeal, and divers 
other motions which trouble the quiet of the heart 
and conscience ; but the second ordinarily produces 
in souls only humility, self-confusion, and the fear of 
God. 

The seventh is, that you disengage yourselves from 
all the transitory things of this world, not only as to 
your soul, but also as to your body, and that you ap- 
ply yourselves to God with ail your heart ; for the 



A CHBISTIAN LIfB. 899 

more you shall advance in this disposition, the less yon 
will have of man, and the more you will participate 
of God ; for such souls as are extraordinarily affected 
to perishable things, change and pass with them ; but 
such as love God alone, do in their degree participate 
in the firmness and stability of God. Withdraw your- 
selves also from the multiplicity of affairs ; for though 
tkey are not evil, yet if you are too much addicted to 
them, they will throw your heart into distraction, and 
never suffer it to rest perfectly in God. 

The eighth is, that you continually fix your eyes on 
the life of Jesus Christ, on his passion, doctrine, con- 
versation with men, and those divine examples he 
has left us of all virtues, of humility, charity, mercy, 
obedience, poverty austerity, contempt of the world* 
and on the great love he had for our salvation. 

The ninth is, that you labor as much as you possi- 
bly can to deny yourselves, and resign yourselves up 
wholly to Almighty God, in such manner that you 
may cause your own will to die, and that the will of 
God alone may live in you. It is thus he reigns in 
OS, and we in him. This is the most useful of all the 
resolutions you can take in the rencounters of this 
life, prosperous or adverse, sorrowful or pleasing, 
sweet or bitter, such as it shall please God to send you. 

The tenth is, that in all your business, cares and 
troubles, you shall have recourse to God with humil- 
ity and confidence. He is your Father, therefore 
seek him with the heart of a true child ; remit all 
things to his providence ; take them as coming from 



400 THE MEMORIAL OF 

his hand ; drive from you all discontented thonghtg 
and cast yourselves with confidence before the throne 
of his mercy. 

The eleventh is, that you be in a perpetual ac- 
knowledgment of his benefits, and that you give him 
continual thanks for his favors, whether great or 
Bmall, not considering so much the quality of the 
gifts he shall have bestowed on you, as your own 
unworthiness, the greatness of him who grants them, 
and the love with which he treats you ; for, in effect, 
he gives little things with no less love than the more 
important. 

The twelfth is, that you take a firm resolution to 
cut off and remove far from you all such things, 
whether corporal or spiritual, as may put the least 
obstacle to your advancement ; as the too great love 
of some persons, your studies, books, conversations, 
and acquaintances, though they appear to you spirit- 
ual; principally when you shall perceive that you 
adhere too much to them, and that they hinder you 
from making a greater progress in virtue. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Ttoelve sorts of Defects, which ottght carefidly to be 
avoided in the Spiritual Life, 

There are several defects which hinder one from 
going forward in the spiritual life, and cause many 



A CHRISTIAN LIFB. 401 

of those who had a design to profit, to be found after 
several years the same they ever were. We will here 
shew you twelve of the most important, that beholding 
yourselves in them, as in a mirror, you may thereby 
observe your stains, know the causes that hinder 
your progress, and seek remedies for them. 

The first is, the excessive love of businsss and out- 
ward afiairs, which causes one to be deprived of the 
inward visits and consolations of the spirit, for no 
person can find without, what he ought to seek with- 
in himself 

The second is, the too easy access which one giver 
to every body. Those who are naturally addicted to 
this easiness, and take delight in it, cannot ria them- 
selves of company and business, when it is necessary ; 
thus they lose their time, and often fail in their good 
exercises, because they will not fail their friends: 
and through overmuch desire to please the creatures 
the Creator is often displeased. 

The third is, not to be humble enough before God, 
and to act in his presence with too much liberty ; 
thereby is lost that respectful reservedness that is 
due to him, and which is founded in true humility, 
and produces chiefly spiritual profit. 

The fourth is, to apply one's self to things incon- 
siderately and with too much eagerness; to follow 
therein rather the impetuous passion of the mind, 
than the guide of reason : this excessive fervor de- 
stroys the peace and tranquillity of the heart; it ia 
•Iso prejudicial to the afikirs themselves for want ot 
34* 



402 THE MEMORIAL Of 

giving them due consideration. There is nothing 
more true than the assertion of the wise man, who 
Bays, **He who hasteth with his feet shall fall.*' 
Prov. xix. 2. Endeavor, therefore, to act in all 
things with a sound and steady judgment, which may 
be called the faithful companion of prudence. 

The fifth, into which one sometimes falls without 
perceiving it, is to presume too much on one's sel^ 
and on one's own virtue. This is the vice of the phari- 
see, who, through too good opinion he had of his own 
merits, contemned others, and thereby found himself 
to want the foundation of all virtues, which is hu- 
mility.^ 

The sixth is, to be inclined to judge evil of one's 
neighbor, and lightly to condemn his actions. There 
is nothing that more chills charity, since the good 
we wish another proceeds partly from the good opin- 
ion we have of him. 

The seventh is, to have the greatest part of one'a 
heart always set on worldly things. This causes the 
divine love to retire from us, and be much less lib- 
eral of its influences. 

The eighth is, to behave one's self coldly in the 
exercise of prayer, as many do, who come to it with 
sloth, continue it weakly, and finish it without profit ; 
which being so, it is no wonder if they find themselves 
deprived of heavenly visitations, and their devotion 
feeble and languishing. 

The ninth is, to be over indulgent to one's sel^ 
»nd very slack in what concerns the mortification 



A CHBISTIAN LIFB. 403 

and destruction of the outward man. He who lives 
for himself will hardly live for God; and he who 
endeavors not daily to mortify himself^ will never be 
the servant of God. 

The tenth is, not to give one's self sufficiently to 
recollection , but to be found ordinarily distracted, 
and wandering, out of one's self; whence a man 
comes to be ignorant of what he is, and knows not 
how to disesteem himself as he ought, or to watch 
over his own actions as much as is necessary. 

The eleventh is, to love one's self too much ; to be 
too much bent to one's own will and appetites : they 
that live thus believe the cross of Jesus Christ to be 
an intolerable burden, and the perfection of the evan- 
gelical life a yoke which cannot be borne. 

The twelfth is, to be changeable and inconstant in 
one's purposes ; to form good resolutions, but more 
easily break off from them. It is perseverance alone 
which finishes the work : without it the whole life 
passes in vain and frivolous projects, and a man be- 
comes like those vines, which bear grapes all the year, 
but such as nev^er come to maturity. 



TDB nn. 



I 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Pevaci^ < • • • • iii 

BOOK I. 

CoiUaining a aeri&ua ExhortaHon to do Petumet^ 
Chap. 

I. With what punishment God threatens those who lire 

in sin, * • • 16 

II. What the glory of the blessed is, , . . ,36 
m. The advantages God promises the good in this life, • 46 
rV. That a man ought never to delay his conversion, hav- 
ing so many debts to discharge, incurred by the 
faults of his past life, •••••• 69 

V« Conclusion, . . • • • . • 68 

BOOK II. 
On Penance and Confession* 

brrBODucTioN, • • • #6 

L On the first part of Penance, which is Gontritioii, and 

the means to obtain it, • • • • • 67 

IL On the principal means to obtain Contrition, and par- 
ticularly on true sorrow for sin, . . .76 
m. Considerations that may help a penitent to conceive 

a horror for his sins. First of their multitude, • 78 
Sect. 2. Second Consideration. On what is lost by sin, 83 
Sect. 3. Third Consideration. On the majesty and 

goodness of God, against whom we sin, . • 87 
Sect. 4. Fourth Consideration. On the injury done to 

God by sin, . ....... 90 

Sect. 5. Fifth Consideration. On the hatred God 

bears to sin, ... • • • M 

404 



G0NTBNT8. 405 

Sect. 6. Sixth Consideration, On Deaths and the 

things that follow it, 94 

Sect. 7. Seventh Consideration. On God's benefits, 96 

IV. A Prayer, to stir up in the sonl compunction and sor- 

row for her sins, . . . . , 98 

V. Another Prayer, to beg pardon for our sins, . • 101 
Another Prayer, to beg pardon for our sins, • . lOS 

n. Of the wonderful fruits that follow true Contrition, 116 
fll. On the second part of Penance, which is Confession, 

and of seven things that are to be observed in it, • 122 
Sect. 1. On the care that is to be taken in examining 

onr conscience, 122 

Sect 2. The obligation we have to confess the number 

of our sins, • • . 12# 

Sect. 3. On Confession, and the circumstances that 

ought to accompany it, II 

Sect. 4. That it is not necessary to confess any thing 
that does not aggravate or change the spodes of 
the sin of which we accuse ourselves, . i^ 

Sect 5. In what manner sins of thought Bie ic cm 

confessed, . • . « . • . . 131 
Sect. 6. Of taking heed not to prejudice our neighbor's 

reputation, . . . • • . • . • ISS 
Vin. Of cases in which the confession is null, and must be 

reiterated, 134 

A general examination of Conscience, • • . 18C 
General directions for distinguishing between mortal 
and venial sin, 149 

IX. Of the third part of Penance, which is Satisfaction, 160 

X. Of the origin and cause of Satisfaction, , . , 164 

XI. Of the three principal works by which we satisfy 

God, 168 

Sect. 1. Of the first satisfactory work, which is 

Fasting, .169 

Sect 2. Of the second, which is Alms, • • . 172 
Sect 3. Of the third, which is Prayer, • • • 177 

XII. A short Examination of Conscience for those who 

confess often, ....••• 180 



^ 406 



CONTENm 



BOOK 111 



On Holy Communion, 

4'<fAF. piM. 

L How V2 ought to prepare ourselves for it, . 187 

II. Of the first thing necessarj for communicating well, 

which is, Puritj of Conscience, . • • ,193 

III. Of the second thing necessary for communicating well, 

which is Purity of Intention, , . . . 199 

IV • Of the third thing necessary for communicating well, 

which is Actual Devotion, 203 

V. That time ought to be taken for the putting one's 

self in all these dispositions, . • • • 218 

VI. What ought to be done before communicating, . 225 

VII. What is to be done in communicating, and after com- 

municating, 22t 

VUL Of the use of the sacraments of Penance and the 
Blessed Eucharist, and of the profit received by 

often frequenting them, 238 

Sect. 1. Of the effects of sacramental Communion, • 241 
Sect. 2. Answers to the objections of the slothful, • 2i6 
IX. Of the cause why some persons find little devotion 

when they celebrate or communicate, . • • 266 
JL Whether it be good to communicate very often, • 260 
A Meditation before holy Communion, to stir up in the 

soul the fear and love of the most holy Sacrament, 272 
The second part of this Meditation. • • • 277 

A Prayer after Communion, by St. Thomas of Aquin, 281 
A Meditation after Communion, .... 282 
A Meditation for one to exercise himself in on the day 
of holy Communion, in considering the greatneas 
of this mystery, and giving thanks to our Lord for 
this incomparable benefit, . . • • . 285f 
The second part of this meditation, • • • 299 

BOOK IV, 
Containing tioo principcd Rules of a Christian Li/€* 

PrbfacE; 299 

L The First Rule of a Christian Life, treating of the 

Tictory over sin^^ and the means to 4estroy it, • 902 







^0 






^h ^y^-^^y ^^ %_^ *,"^^^o 




■^.^^ 



.#^ V 



\> ^ ^ • , > 



A^-^ f^fm^'^ -^ 












Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
-'^^ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
c^. Treatment Date: Feb. 2006 



^^ > 



v^-^^^ 



^ PreservationTechnologies 



A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Dnve 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



